The Procurement and Supply Manager's Desk Reference, + Website, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 1

Procurement and Best Business Practices

The role of the procurement and supply management professional is rapidly changing. While in the past the procurement professional's area of responsibility was clearly relegated to efficient “processing” of purchase orders, the pace of today's business environment has expanded that role to control of the entire sourcing and acquisition process. To be successful in this rapidly changing, dynamic marketplace requires not only the traditionally disciplined approach to managing critical business relationships but also the ability to quickly understand and employ strategic new methods and technology. Procurement professionals today must have the ability to assess and respond effectively to current market conditions and the foresight to envision the future needs of the organization, setting into motion plans that will respond to the changing dynamics of the continually reinvented organization. Indeed, today's procurement management professional must be a master of change. And to facilitate that dynamic of change, the procurement professional must also be a master of best practices—methods shown to provide outstanding results—to continually ensure that change drives improvement in the business process and does not simply replace one poorly functioning system with another poorly functioning system. That is why we begin this Desktop Reference by reviewing the key elements of those processes and best practices that are fundamental to excellence ...