Posted: Tuesday, January 19, 2010, 8:49AM
RELATED NEWS
- England regional PMI: cost inflation ramps up
11 Mar 10 - EU 'big-four' enjoy productivity growth
09 Mar 10 - Eurozone PMI: services suffer as manufacturing rebounds
05 Mar 10 - CIPS/Markit: UK service sector recovering
04 Mar 10 - Eurozone recovery falling flat
02 Mar 10 - US construction costs continue to fall
26 Feb 10
RELATED ARTICLES
- Thought leaders: Supply risk management
- Reflections on the US
- Executive Masterclass 2009 - Amsterdam
- Ask the experts: Is it a ‘V’ or ‘W’ shaped recession?
- New sun rises on Japan
- Investor CFO on the value of procurement
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT TAGS
"Benchmarking", "Risk Management"
European procurement pros must face up to 'new normal'
European procurement executives are beginning the new decade with rapidly changing priorities, new research reveals.While driving cost reductions remains at the top of agendas, managing cash and mitigating supply risk are becoming the "new normal", according to the results of a new study from Aberdeen Group.
"In order to position themselves and their organisations to play an increasingly strategic role when the recovery inevitably begins, CPOs and other procurement leaders must successfully address short-term needs while pressing forward on longer-term initiatives," said Andrew Bartolini, vice president/group director, Global Supply Management, Aberdeen Group and author of the research, entitled European CPOs: Capitalising on the Best Opportunities.
According to the study, identifying cost reductions remains the top priority for procurement executives. But managing cash and mitigating supply risk have taken on new urgency.
"With access to credit tightening across most major industries, CPOs have moved quickly to implement strategies to keep more cash on hand by employing more aggressive demand management strategies, negotiating better payment terms and optimising working capital by taking more early payment discounts," Bartolini added.
More than half of the executives interviewed as part of the research cited risk as an increasing business pressure. And while 83 per cent have no formal risk programme in place at present, most recognise the need to mitigate the stress on the financial and operational performance of key trading partners that the recession has caused.
"Innovative organisations recognise that to succeed under current economic conditions, they need to be more agile than ever before," added Steve Canning, director, Ariba EMEA.
"As such, they are redefining their priorities and implementing solutions and processes that enable them to quickly respond to changes in market and business conditions and drive their strategic goals."
Procurement Tags - Benchmarking, Risk Management
= Associate Members Only 
