Chief procurement officer

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A chief procurement officer (CPO) undertakes an executive role within an enterprise, focusing on sourcing, procurement, and supply management.

Contents

Typically, a CPO is responsible for the management, administration, and supervision of the company's acquisition programs. They may be in charge of the contracting services and may manage the purchase of supplies, equipment, and materials. It is often his or her responsibility to source goods and services and to negotiate prices and contracts. Many CPOs report to a director or directly to the chief executive officer (CEO) of their company. In some organisations the role is named chief acquisition officer, e.g. in the United States Department of Agriculture. [1]

Focus of interest

A chief procurement officer and their department will often be responsible for:

Some CPOs are in charge of locating sources for supplies and services, and maintaining relations with suppliers and vendors. They usually negotiate with vendors to get the best prices and deals, utilizing the power of purchase and the economies of scale. Often they set up contracts between vendors and the company.

Aside from sourcing and negotiating prices and contracts, the CPO's staff usually work with a business's accounts payable function to ensure that vendors are paid on schedule. In addition, they usually keep inventory levels current and take responsibility for forecasting the future supply needs of the company.

Many industries employ procurement officers, from small companies to global organizations. In a small company, the procurement officer may work singly, but often there is a team that executes the purchasing for an organization. A chief procurement officer working for a multinational corporation might manage a globally-dispersed team.

Whether at a small company or a large one, the chief procurement officer usually provides overall leadership to the purchasing team and ensures that procurement policies and procedures are followed. Typically, they also are constantly in search of better quality products and better prices. In a lot of companies, all procurement decisions ultimately end up at the desk of the CPO.

The position of the chief procurement officer is believed by many to have taken on increased significance in corporations, and the role is thought to have grown more strategic in recent years. Globalization, compliance pressures, supply market risk, and procurement automation have simultaneously elevated the visibility of the procurement discipline within companies and increased supply management challenges. In response, procurement executives have established agendas for organizational transformation. These plans incorporate activities to bring more spending under management, enhance the procurement organization's skills and visibility, and increase both internal and external collaboration. Such pressures have also triggered a trend toward centralization of the procurement function for the purposes of standardization and leverage. Willem Uijen, CPO of Unilever, describes the procurement organization which he leads as "purpose-led, value-driven and future-fit organisation", [2] Marco Gonçalves, CPO of Nestlé, has emphasised the role which procurement plays in making his company a "sustainable business". [3]

Exceptional interpersonal and negotiation skills generally are required of successful chief procurement officers. Excellent oral and written communication skills may also be necessary. Fluency in additional languages also can be considered an asset, since vendors may be situated in other parts of the world.

Research

A new Supply Management report published in July 2011 says that "76 percent of chief procurement officers (CPOs) feel the skills of their purchasing staff either 'need improvement' (65 percent) or display a 'significant gap' (11 percent), according to research from Ardent Partners. [4] [5] This survey of nearly 250 CPOs around the world includes a procurement competency matrix, which considered the higher-level skills a purchasing department should have. Contract management, category management, data analysis and presentation expertise were rated as average by CPOs, with no competencies achieving a good or excellent rating. The report said there was a 'picture of a very middle-of-the-road set of skills residing within the typical procurement department'. It also added: 'For the average department, opportunities for improvement abound'. [6]

Many CPOs recognise the importance of collaborating with their organisation's chief financial officer (CFO) and that an operating environment that values cash, profit margins, and risk mitigation is one that plays to the primary skills and capabilities of a procurement organization. Some CFOs have become increasingly involved (directly via oversight or indirectly through improved collaboration) with the procurement function according to a 2011 research report which looked at the CFO's relationship with the procurement function and the Chief Procurement Officer. [7] Andrew Bartolini has reviewed the history of this relationship, which from the 1990's was a "rocky" one, where the CFO worked at the highest levels of seniority within a business and the CPO occupied a middle-ranking position, to greater recognition of the role of the CPO and the contribution of the procurement function, trigged in particular by the Great Recession of 2008 and the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2020, Bartolini observes more open communication, transparency and "active, formal and constant collaboration" becoming embedded in the relationship. [8]

Cloud eProcurement and spend management company Wax Digital surveyed over 100 CPOs in 2013. [9] The survey found that:

Related Research Articles

Corporate titles or business titles are given to corporate officers to show what duties and responsibilities they have in the organization. Such titles are used by publicly and privately held for-profit corporations, cooperatives, non-profit organizations, educational institutions, partnerships, and sole proprietorships that also confer corporate titles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Supply chain management</span> Management of the flow of goods and services

In commerce, supply chain management (SCM) deals with a system of procurement, operations management, logistics and marketing channels, through which raw materials can be developed into finished products and delivered to their end customers. A more narrow definition of supply chain management is the "design, planning, execution, control, and monitoring of supply chain activities with the objective of creating net value, building a competitive infrastructure, leveraging worldwide logistics, synchronising supply with demand and measuring performance globally". This can include the movement and storage of raw materials, work-in-process inventory, finished goods, and end to end order fulfilment from the point of origin to the point of consumption. Interconnected, interrelated or interlinked networks, channels and node businesses combine in the provision of products and services required by end customers in a supply chain.

A chief financial officer (CFO), also known as, is an officer of a company or organization who is assigned the primary responsibility for making decisions for the company for projects and its finances . The CFO thus has ultimate authority over the finance unit and is the chief financial spokesperson for the organization.

Chief information officer (CIO), chief digital information officer (CDIO) or information technology (IT) director, is a job title commonly given to the most senior executive in an enterprise who works with information technology and computer systems, in order to support enterprise goals.

Procurement is the process of locating and agreeing to terms and purchasing goods, services, or other works from an external source, often with the use of a tendering or competitive bidding process. The term may also refer to a contractual obligation to "procure", i.e. to "ensure" that something is done. When a government agency buys goods or services through this practice, it is referred to as government procurement or public procurement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Purchase order</span> Commercial document

A purchase order, often abbreviated to PO, is a commercial document issued by a buyer to a seller, indicating types, quantities, and agreed prices for products or services required. It is used to control the purchasing of products and services from external suppliers. Purchase orders can be an essential part of enterprise resource planning system orders.

Purchasing is the procurement process a business or organization uses to acquire goods or services to accomplish its goals. Although there are several organizations that attempt to set standards in the purchasing process, processes can vary greatly between organizations.

In the United States, a group purchasing organization (GPO) is an entity that is created to leverage the purchasing power of a group of businesses to obtain discounts from vendors based on the collective buying power of the GPO members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Business-to-business</span> Commercial transaction between businesses

Business-to-business is a situation where one business makes a commercial transaction with another. This typically occurs when:

Strategic sourcing is the process of developing channels of supply at the lowest total cost, not just the lowest purchase price. It expands upon traditional organisational purchasing activities to embrace all activities within the procurement cycle, from specification to receipt, payment for goods and services to sourcing production lines where the labor market would increase firms' ROI. Strategic sourcing processes aim for continuous improvement and re-evaluation of the purchasing activities of an organisation.

A purchasing cooperative is a type of cooperative arrangement, often among businesses, to agree to aggregate demand to get lower prices from selected suppliers. Retailers' cooperatives are a form of purchasing cooperative. Cooperatives are often used by government agencies to reduce costs of procurement. Purchasing Cooperatives are used frequently by governmental entities, since they are required to follow laws requiring competitive bidding above certain thresholds. In the United States, counties, municipalities, schools, colleges and universities in the majority of states can sign interlocal agreements or cooperative contracts that allow them to legally use contracts that were procured by another governmental entity. The National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO) reported increasing use of cooperative purchasing practices in its 2016 survey of state procurement.

Supplier relationship management (SRM) is the systematic, enterprise-wide assessment of suppliers' strengths, performance and capabilities with respect to overall business strategy, determination of what activities to engage in with different suppliers, and planning and execution of all interactions with suppliers, in a coordinated fashion across the relationship life cycle, to maximize the value realized through those interactions. The focus of supplier relationship management is the development of two-way, mutually beneficial relationships with strategic supply partners to deliver greater levels of innovation and competitive advantage than could be achieved by operating independently or through a traditional, transactional purchasing arrangement. Underpinning disciplines which support effective SRM include supplier information management, compliance, risk management and performance management.

In the United States, the processes of government procurement enable federal, state and local government bodies in the country to acquire goods, services, and interests in real property. Contracting with the federal government or with state and local public bodies enables interested businesses to become suppliers in these markets.

A chief information security officer (CISO) is a senior-level executive within an organization responsible for establishing and maintaining the enterprise vision, strategy, and program to ensure information assets and technologies are adequately protected. The CISO directs staff in identifying, developing, implementing, and maintaining processes across the enterprise to reduce information and information technology (IT) risks. They respond to incidents, establish appropriate standards and controls, manage security technologies, and direct the establishment and implementation of policies and procedures. The CISO is also usually responsible for information-related compliance. The CISO is also responsible for protecting proprietary information and assets of the company, including the data of clients and consumers. CISO works with other executives to make sure the company is growing in a responsible and ethical manner.

Contract management or contract administration is the management of contracts made with customers, vendors, partners, or employees. Contract management includes negotiating the terms and conditions in contracts and ensuring compliance with the terms and conditions, as well as documenting and agreeing on any changes or amendments that may arise during its implementation or execution. It can be summarized as the process of systematically and efficiently managing contract creation, execution, and analysis for the purpose of maximizing financial and operational performance and minimizing risk.

The Chief Privacy Officer (CPO) is a senior level executive within a growing number of global corporations, public agencies and other organizations, responsible for managing risks related to information privacy laws and regulations. Variations on the role often carry titles such as "Privacy Officer," "Privacy Leader," and "Privacy Counsel." However, the role of CPO differs significantly from another similarly-titled role, the Data Protection Officer (DPO), a role mandated for some organizations under the GDPR, and the two roles should not be confused or conflated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vendor</span> Supplier of goods or services

In a supply chain, a vendor, supplier, provider or a seller, is an enterprise that contributes goods or services. Generally, a supply chain vendor manufactures inventory/stock items and sells them to the next link in the chain. Today, these terms refer to a supplier of any goods or service. In property sales, the vendor is the name given to the seller of the property.

Spend analysis or spend analytics is the process of collecting, cleansing, classifying and analyzing expenditure data with the purpose of decreasing procurement costs, improving efficiency, and monitoring controls and compliance. It can also be leveraged in other areas of business such as inventory management, contract management, complex sourcing, supplier management, budgeting, planning, and product development.

The Florida Department of Management Services (DMS) functions as the business division of the Florida government. Its primary role is to provide support to other state agencies and both current and former state employees, focusing on workforce and business-related functions. This enables these agencies and individuals to concentrate on their principal missions as stipulated by law. The motto of the agency is "We Serve Those Who Serve Florida."

Category management is an approach to the organisation of purchasing within a business organisation, also often referred to as procurement. Applying category management to purchasing activity benefits organisations by providing an approach to reduce the cost of buying goods and services, reduce risk in the supply chain, increase overall value from the supply base and gain access to more innovation from suppliers. It is a strategic approach which focuses on the vast majority of organisational spend. If applied effectively throughout an entire organisation, the results can be significantly greater than traditional transactional based purchasing negotiations, however the discipline of category management is sorely misunderstood.

References

  1. ↑ General Services Administration, Chief Acquisition Officers' Council: Large Agencies, accessed 12 July 2023
  2. ↑ Rowsell, J., Unilever's new CPO unveils 'procurement with purpose vision', Supply Management, accessed 28 November 2022, accessed 7 December 2022
  3. ↑ Buist, J., Nestlé’s CPO on responsible sourcing, Supply Management, published 9 June 2017, accessed 7 December 2022
  4. ↑ Ardent Partners, Innovative Ideas for the Decade Ahead Archived 2011-09-26 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ Bartolini, A., Throwback Thursday: CPO Rising 2011: Innovative Ideas for the Decade Ahead, CPO Rising, published 11 June 2020, accessed 28 November 2023
  6. ↑ Albert, Angeline (28 July 2011). "Survey uncovers major procurement skills gap", Supply Management.
  7. ↑ Batrolini, Andrew (2011). "The CFO and the CPO: One World, Two Worldviews". Ardentpartners.com. Archived from the original on 24 September 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  8. ↑ Bartolini, A., Time to Rekindle the CFO-CPO Relationship, CPO Rising, published 21 February 2023, accessed 28 November 2023
  9. ↑ Wax Digital, CPO Careers Research, accessed 18 March 2018
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