“For most organizations, the single largest or second largest area of costs is procurement from suppliers. Even in boom times, savvy enterprises are constantly looking for ways to optimize procurement spend to boost profitability. Averting fraud and other business risks, such as the recent horsemeat scandal, is another reason smart organizations strive to enhance their procurement capability; however, only a minority of organizations are able to achieve this. Many procurement practitioners are beset by organizational challenges – ‘soft’ issues – and struggle to incorporate effectiveness to their functional activities …”
I shared insights on strengthening the Procurement function and raising its profile in an interview with Supply Chain Management Review, which you can read here.