Article: The New Rules of Procurement Engagement

The old rules for procurement are dead.

A new breed of procurement professionals is rising. From start-up procurement administrators to enterprise CPOs, these changemakers are on a mission to transform risk into opportunity, data into actionable insights, silos into seamless collaboration, and outdated process and misaligned tech into automated, high-performance best-of-breed solutions.

Change is inevitable, it’s time to rapidly evolve the once-undervalued procurement team of yesterday from a fragmented, reactive back-office function to a collaborative, strategic, and high-profile enterprise resource for tomorrow.

Light Despite the Dark

As global economies, enterprises, and business leaders leap from one mega crisis to the next, the focus on continual growth seems out of sight. As a response, organisations pivot their attention to cost control, risk mitigation, supply chain resilience, and digital transformation. The focus to drive greater efficiencies, control risk, and generate profitability from within is now business critical.

Seismic changes in the economy, political instability, rising costs, and inflation strike fear in many, yet others seek opportunity from chaos.

The role of procurement has never held more corporate currency. For many years, procurement professionals have been actively seeking strategic influence, and access to the right people, data, tools, and talent to drive true value and improve operational efficiencies.

Now is procurement’s time to shine! Whether you’re a seasoned professional or just starting out, this is your moment. But how?

The Changemakers

It is a new generation of digital natives with an expectation of consumerised business technology, actionable insights, and decision-ready data. When combined with the old guard’s growing frustrations for influence and smarter ways of working, we are seeing the emergence of a new paradigm of changemakers.

These changemakers will not stand for outdated ways of working, paper-based systems, fragmented data, unmanaged risk, and legacy “one size fits all” technology. The old rules are dead.

With the advancements in best-of-breed tech, automation, and new ways of working, the expectation of value creation becomes the new normal. The bar has been raised.

From start-up procurement administrators to enterprise CPOs, the new breed is transforming:

• Risk into opportunity
• Data into actionable insights
• Silos into seamless collaboration
• Outdated process and misaligned tech into automated, high-performance best-of-breed solutions.

Yes, change is inevitable. And now is the time for procurement to take the reins and become the changemakers who elevate the function to a new strategic level where its value is recognised and pursued as part of the normal course of business. Compare the procurement paradigm shift between yesterday’s Old World and today’s New World requirements.

The New Rules

With this paradigm shift upon us, only the strongest teams will survive, some will fall, some will thrive. The question is where will you stand when the dust settles? How can you capitalise on this unprecedented opportunity?

The changemakers are embracing a new dawn as they explore the new rules of procurement engagement.

In our next article we will delve into the first of these rules – Reimagine Strategy. In the meantime, register to join our changemakers at marketdojo.com/new-rules/