Monthly Top 5 - December 2023

The only articles you need to catch up on 2023

Author

Joël Collin-Demers
January 03, 2024 • 📖 6 minutes

Reading time: 4 min 5 sec

🎣 The Catch Up

Hi there,

It’s time for another round up of the best Procurement and ProcureTech articles published last month. In December, I sorted through over 1000 articles in different 40 sources to bring you the best. You can now just focus on reading!

The month of December is always hit or miss for articles because everyone is putting out summary content from the past year (sometimes copy/paste!). Thankfully, this year two of those “summary articles” hit gold with me. You’ll find those in the top 2!

Otherwise, articles on some of my favorite topics these days: intake management, risk management and Procurement KPIs.

2024 will be an exciting year for Procurement and ProcureTech. I can feel it!

Enjoy the read,

Joël
Consulting Principal
Pure Procurement

P.S. In case you missed it, here was my favorite LinkedIn post of the month:
Innovation doesn't always have to be grandiose. It doesn't have to be expensive, difficult or complicated.

Top 5 Source-to-Pay Articles
December 2023

#1 - Why Did Procurement Feel So Busy in 2023?

PASA put together a great summary of the key takeaways that came out of their events during 2023.

Here’s a few of the topics covered in the article that point to why Procurement functions worldwide kept reporting they were at their busiest ever:

  • ESG Priorities

  • Value beyond cost savings

  • eProcurement technology's role is changing

  • Procurement is bad at business cases

  • Supply chain tracking to help with risk management

  • "Friend-Shoring" trends

  • The "Post-savings era" is beginning

This last point is particularly interesting. Here’s an excerpt:

At a PASA Connect CPO Roundtable, one member explained how his CEO had told him that he cared less for savings now and that “we are in a post-savings era now”.

The CEO added, “I do not stay awake at night worrying about savings, I do lie awake worried about my supplies arriving on time so that we can service our customers. That is what could kill our business.” 

The CEO went on to explain fully how the CPOs job had changed, towards supply assurance over savings.

What was most interesting, right then, was how many heads were nodding around that CPO roundtable in agreement. Others seem to have had a similar message.

If you only read 1 article to catch up on what happened to Procurement functions in 2023, let this be the one.

Did you read something great in December that’s not in this list?
Are you writing a banger of an article in January?

Reply to this email. I want to know!

#2 - What Are Your Career Plans for 2024?

The “yearly objective” conversations are just around the corner for 2024…

Una put together this neat article that can be used as a source of inspiration to brainstorm where you want to take your Procurement career in 2024.

Have a read before meeting with your manager. This article might just change the trajectory of your entire year!

#3 - The State of Intake Management

This piece by Spend Matters is a great primer on the Intake Management software market (products that claim to be able to manage every and all requests that can possibly be routed to Procurement in a business). This is a subset of the wider Procurement software market.

They cover the big players in this space, where the market is heading and how the different players are differentiating themselves.

Whether you’re a Small/Medium Business with no tech or a mature, enterprise Procurement department, you need to be paying attention to this software segment if you’re considering technology to help deliver efficiency in your business.

#4 - Is It Time to Setup a Risk Council?

If you’ve been stung in recent years because of unknown or unmitigated risks, you certainly have a new appreciation for the power of risk management…

Ramping up risk management competencies in Procurement is on the docket across the board in years to come. Whether or not you already have a risk management function in house (e.g. in banking, investment, etc.), Procurement needs to become increasingly well versed in risk management.

This SCMR provides a primer on putting together a risk council to get the governance process started if you’re still at the start of this journey.

#5 - How Did We Measure Procurement in 2023?

Hackett recently released the results of their 2023 Value Measurement Study.

If you want a peek at how other Procurement functions are being measured, this is an interesting read.

Here’s the main takeaway for me:

“The most common value elements included in procurement’s scorecard which is reported to senior company leadership are year-over-year savings and cost avoidance, which align well with procurement’s primary commercial focus. The next three elements (i.e., diversity, equity and inclusion, responsible procurement, and risk management) reflect the trend of procurement teams being asked to add more value beyond just commercial benefits.”

Hackett, 2023 Procurement Value Measurement Study Results

It’s also interesting to compare with the measures I pulled from the 1997, Measures of Purchasing Effectiveness CAPS study.

In short, diversity, responsible Procurement and risk measures are nowhere on the radar in this study. This further drives the point home that Procurement is being asked to do more than ever before.

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