Procurement Leaders

MARCH 8, 2025

With gender equality a critical topic for International Womens Day, Procurement Leaders spoke with Theano Liakopoulou , partner at McKinsey & Company, where she shared her insights into the challenges facing women in progressing their careers, and how companies can provide the experience capital needed to become a senior leader through training, mobility assignments, coaching and mentoring.

Leadership 130

Leadership Influencing Procurement Management 130

Procurement Leaders

MARCH 2, 2025

A focal point of Procurement Leaders’ community activities in 2025 will be exploring how the relationship between procurement and other key internal stakeholders must evolve to meet the demands of this increasingly topsy-turvy world we inhabit. Its nothing new, you might think. Stakeholder engagement is a fundamental part of the role and various approaches exist, including procurement working directly with critical functions aligning itself both physically and metaphorically to help deepe

Procurement 130

Procurement Stakeholder engagement Buyers Demand 130

Procurement Leaders

FEBRUARY 23, 2025

Ive often said how privileged a position chief procurement officers can find themselves in, being at the centre of a global value chain, with access to thousands of partners both upstream, internally and at least in some cases downstream. Wielding influence over suppliers is a superpower that can be used to drive positive change, as well as improved business performance often, both at the same time.

Chief Procurement Officer 130

Chief Procurement Officer Influencing Strategy Procurement 130

Procurement Leaders

FEBRUARY 16, 2025

For those who joined Procurement Leaders CPO Connect call on the first two weeks of President Trumps administration earlier this month, Im sure youll have found the conversation therapeutic. A large group of CPOs sharing what they thought about the various executive orders, their potential impact and the need to stay calm was reassuring. In fact, I wrote last week about how CPOs must remain committed to long-term goals , reiterating that sustainable business strategies involve investing in and r

Innovation 204

Innovation Strategy Business strategy Suppliers 204

Procurement Leaders

FEBRUARY 10, 2025

A week is a long time in politics, so the saying goes. Proof of the pace at which the external environment can change has become clear following Donald Trump’s inauguration as President of the United States on 20 January. Since taking office, President Trump has signed almost 50 executive orders, generating no shortage of headlines and disruption.

Procurement 208

Procurement Sustainability Strategy Management 208

Procurement Leaders

JANUARY 26, 2025

With 2025 promising to be another year of uncertainty and CPOs seeking additional streams of value, we often hear from members of the Procurement Leaders community who say they are placing greater focus on enhancing productivity. With the global economy looking strong despite the fact geopolitical and other risks are seemingly everywhere, its proving to be something of a paradoxical business climate.

Risk 147

Risk Procurement Demand Management 147

Procurement Leaders

JANUARY 19, 2025

Its always a nervous time for us at Procurement Leaders as we round the New Year and start preparing for some milestone activities in the coming months. Our Americas Procurement Congress in March, the World Procurement Congress in May and, the cause of most of those nerves, the World Procurement Awards that follow WPC. Why the nerves? Waiting for the community to submit entries to our awards programme is one of those anxiety-riddled periods: Will people invest the time?

Procurement 130

Procurement Supply chain Import Supply 130

Procurement Leaders

JANUARY 12, 2025

Discussions in UK Parliament committees dont tend to make headline news, with only the most dedicated politicos listening to the discussions. But if you follow the news agenda in London you will likely be familiar with the fallout of last weeks Business and Trade Committee session. What happened? MPs invited representatives from several major companies to answer questions on their organisations working practices, supply chains and the steps they take to enforce standards.

Supply chain 130

Supply chain Supply Risk Suppliers 130

Procurement Leaders

JANUARY 5, 2025

First, Id like to wish every CPO Crunch reader a happy new year and all the best for 2025 with all the challenges and adventures its likely to bring. Before the holidays, I spent a little time sharing how readers might want to prepare for a period of profound uncertainty , increasingly local-first strategies and internal competition for investment in AI.

Supply chain 147

Supply chain Procurement Strategy Collaboration 147

Procurement Leaders

DECEMBER 15, 2024

With all thats going on in the world, maintaining supplier collaboration initiatives can seem overwhelming at times especially when the returns can be opaque and difficult to quantify. Most readers will agree that formal supplier collaboration programmes are worth doing; they can unlock huge amounts of value and tap into significant innovation to support growth agendas, sustainability programmes and resilience efforts.

Sustainability 130

Sustainability Collaboration Innovation Suppliers 130

Procurement Leaders

DECEMBER 22, 2024

First, happy holidays! As CPO and leader of procurement strategy, you deserve a break because the past 12 months have been challenging to say the least. In fact, its a good job that your average chief procurement officer is naturally drawn to complex problems because there was a rich vein of them through 2024. And theres little to suggest that much will change moving into 2025.

Agile and Lean Supply Chain 130

Agile and Lean Supply Chain Chief Procurement Officer Consumer demands Procurement strategies 130

Procurement Leaders

DECEMBER 9, 2024

A CPO session I attended recently that explored the challenging issue of diversity in procurement was sobering, occasionally disappointing and at times downright outrageous. Thankfully, the emotions I felt had nothing to do with the quality of the conversation rather the content. It provided a timely reminder of just how much work needs to be done to improve diversity, even before the headwinds that will come with a new Trump-led administration in the White House.

Suppliers 147

Suppliers Procurement Quality Data 147

Procurement Leaders

DECEMBER 6, 2024

In partnership with Procurement Leaders: Discover how the function can improve its oversight of, and ability to mitigate, sub-tier threats

Risk 100

Risk Procurement Risk management Sustainability 100

Procurement Leaders

DECEMBER 2, 2024

One of my favourite moments from last month’s Asia Pacific Procurement Congress occurred when Asahi CPO Tom Veit took to the stage in Singapore to deliver a presentation with his colleague, Naoki Nagahama. Naoki-san’s official title at Asahi is liaison director – or, in other language, a business partner. He’s part of the connecting tissue between central procurement and the wider, highly complex group of Asahi businesses.

Innovation 130

Innovation Procurement Suppliers Import 130

Procurement Leaders

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

A couple of weeks ago, I hosted a call for Procurement Leaders’ CPO community during which the CPO of a major healthcare organisation shared his function’s transformation journey, the lessons learned and its impact. One of the keys to the success of the transformation was that it had a clear purpose and was fully aligned with the organisation’s need to pivot following the impact of Covid, and subsequent earnings and share price underperformance.

Leadership 130

Leadership Procurement Price Collaboration 130

Procurement Leaders

NOVEMBER 18, 2024

It’s amazing how revitalising a few days in the company of a group of procurement leaders can be. Guaranteed to recharge the inspiration batteries, face-to-face time with members is what’s best about being in this role. And being in Singapore for the Asia Pacific Procurement Congress last week left me in no doubt that the region continues to be a powerhouse of energy, innovation, creativity and growth.

Innovation 130

Innovation Procurement Data Collaboration 130

Procurement Leaders

NOVEMBER 3, 2024

Last week, Procurement Leaders released the CPO Compass 2025 – a unique piece of thought leadership that aims to challenge the assumptions that underpin leaders’ long-term planning. It’s a chance to step back and reflect; to look at the world differently. This year we’ve explored three key topics that CPOs will have to navigate over the coming years: navigating the world’s accelerating “geoeconomic fragmentation” as trading blocs become increasingly common; understanding the balance and interp

Innovation 130

Innovation Leadership Collaboration Suppliers 130

Procurement Leaders

NOVEMBER 1, 2024

Procurement Leaders provides independent strategic research, category intelligence and access to a unique global community aimed at uncovering innovations and driving value.

Innovation 130

Innovation Procurement 130

Procurement Leaders

OCTOBER 31, 2024

The study highlights the thinking of 83 CSOs and senior sustainability decision-makers and will assist them in developing their ESG strategies.

Strategic planning 100

Strategic planning Sustainability Strategy 100

Procurement Leaders

OCTOBER 28, 2024

Last week’s World Sustainability Congress in Amsterdam was an energising experience for many reasons and a reminder of the huge amount of work that CPOs must do to ensure we progress against ESG targets. I was fortunate to have the role of cohost for the event and was left inspired by the level of passion in the room. But I am also convinced that we must do more as a procurement community and profession to accelerate progress.

Cost of ownership 130

Cost of ownership Sustainability Innovation Suppliers 130

Procurement Leaders

OCTOBER 21, 2024

There are many ways that procurement brings financial value to an organisation – from the consistent delivery of year-on-year savings and cost avoidance to the strengthening of working capital positions and cash flow. But perhaps the most progressive of impacts that CPOs can pursue is to drive revenue generation – using procurement’s powers and relationships to deliver top-line impact.

Procurement 130

Procurement Import Risk Strategy 130

Procurement Leaders

OCTOBER 14, 2024

There are so many powerful and disruptive forces in play globally in the modern era that the volume of alerts, red flags and supply chain issues can soon become dizzying. CPOs are in the eye of the storm, managing disruption after disruption – from extreme weather to port strikes to out-and-out war. And these past two weeks have had all of these and more.

Procurement team 147

Procurement team Leadership Supply chain Procurement 147

Procurement Leaders

OCTOBER 7, 2024

Challenge Pharmaceutical company Gilead has a well-established supplier emissions-reduction programme and science-based targets, but aims to increase its use of primary data – especially among suppliers it considers most critically important. While some of those vendors already have programmes in place, others need more support and encouragement. The Foster City, California-headquartered business has devised a segmentation model to ensure that engagement is focused where it will have the greates

Suppliers 130

Suppliers Supplier relationship management Import Collaboration 130

Procurement Leaders

OCTOBER 7, 2024

I’m sure USAA CPO Russ Major (pictured above) won’t mind me sharing how excited he is about the future. We were speaking at Procurement Leaders’ Tomorrow’s Procurement Leader event in Austin, Texas, following his speech about the impact of his ongoing transformation at the $42bn-revenue insurance and banking group that serves current and former members of the US armed forces.

Data 130

Data Procurement Leadership Quality 130

Procurement Leaders

OCTOBER 1, 2024

We would all love to be more productive. After all, getting more output from the same, if not fewer, resources is one of the guiding principles of a growth-based strategy. It’s why countless CPOs have told us that it will be a key priority for them next year, and, by extension, it’s why a good proportion of our community activities in 2025 will focus on the productivity conundrum.

supply chain software solutions 130

supply chain software solutions Leadership Strategy Supply chain 130

Procurement Leaders

SEPTEMBER 23, 2024

A few years ago, I had a conversation with Gregoire Letort, the then CPO of Electrolux, who talked about how, when it comes to justifying investment in supplier innovation programmes, success comes down to storytelling rather than building robust business cases. His argument made sense for a number of reasons. First, supplier innovation is a no-brainer if you start with a reminder that the capability, knowledge and intellectual property that exists within the supply base far outstrips that of an

Innovation 130

Innovation Suppliers Risk Influencing 130

Procurement Leaders

SEPTEMBER 16, 2024

Savings can be a dirty word in the complex, angst-ridden world of procurement. Ask your average CPO to talk about the issue and the chances are the conversation will quickly become derailed. Two reasons. First, many CPOs view savings as fundamental, but no longer strategically critical to their strategies. In many conversations I’ve had over the years, savings have been explained away as housekeeping, the basics, an enabler to procurement being trusted enough to drive more ambitious projects and

Budget 130

Budget Strategic planning Leadership Negotiation 130

Procurement Leaders

SEPTEMBER 9, 2024

There’s no doubt that chief procurement officers are being asked to contribute to board-level discussions more frequently. There are many reasons for this, and a call last week with many of our CPO members identified what some of those are. CPOs have an ever-brightening spotlight shining on their ability to deliver resilience, financial return and ESG impact.

Strategy 130

Strategy Chief Procurement Officer Supply Chain Efficiency Supply chain 130

Procurement Leaders

SEPTEMBER 4, 2024

When the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) unveiled its climate-related disclosure rules back in March, one of the biggest talking points was the Commission’s decision to omit all Scope 3 emissions reporting requirements. This U-turn, which followed months of pressure to pare down the rules, demonstrates the uncertain landscape businesses face as they attempt to develop and execute their sustainability strategies.

Sustainability 130

Sustainability Procurement team Procurement Suppliers 130

Procurement Leaders

AUGUST 30, 2024

In partnership with Emitwise: Businesses must elevate their capabilities – and those of their suppliers – to calculate supply chain emissions accurately

Data 130

Data Supply chain Suppliers Supply 130

Procurement Leaders

AUGUST 28, 2024

Many of us take access to fresh water for granted. It’s on tap. It’s recyclable. Readily available supplies mean it’s not something we have to worry about. Yet, as CDP’s Miriam Denis Le Seve and Sonya Bhonsle told Procurement Leaders members during a recent Risk and Sustainability Cohort Call, four billion people experience severe water scarcity for at least one month each year.

Export 130

Export Risk Supply chain Procurement team 130

Procurement Leaders

AUGUST 19, 2024

Data has become the lifeblood of business. Much like ice-cold gelato on a summer’s day, leaders just can’t get enough of it. The challenge, as we all well know, is finding the right data, at the right time, and applying it to the right situations to elevate both the quality and impact of decision-making. But as a senior procurement performance manager at one FMCG company shared during a recent Data and Digital Strategy Cohort call, procurement could overcome this challenge by looking to both ext

Data 130

Data Price negotiations Procurement team Procurement 130

Procurement Leaders

AUGUST 12, 2024

In this Olympic year, it was fitting that we handed out some gold medals at Ovation – Procurement Leaders’ CPO summit that took place last month in the Netherlands. Sadly we didn’t have any real gold medals, but the construct of competition did provide the motivation for CPOs to recognise their peers who they believed were doing something extraordinary to drive progress in sustainability.

Sustainability 147

Sustainability Supply Chain Efficiency Supply chain Supply 147

Procurement Leaders

AUGUST 5, 2024

A couple of weeks ago I hosted a CPO Connect call during which we spoke to Sandro Scharlibbe, the former CPO of tier-1 automotive supplier Brose and the newly appointed CEO of Küster Holding. Sandro will be well known to many in the Procurement Leaders community – not least for the many awards he and his team picked up during his time as CPO – but also the work he championed on supplier-enabled innovation, which helped inspire many activities we hosted back in the pre-Covid days.

Chief Procurement Officer 130

Chief Procurement Officer Sustainability Procurement Suppliers 130

Procurement Leaders

JULY 29, 2024

Last month, I spoke about how important it is for companies to collaborate with one another – and, of course, with their suppliers – if they are to make meaningful progress on reducing their Scope 3 footprint. As members of Procurement Leaders’ Risk and Sustainability Strategy Cohort gathered last week to discuss this topic in more depth, a sustainable procurement executive at one chemicals company illustrated both the scale of the challenge – and the potential power of thinking collaborativel

Sustainability 130

Sustainability Collaboration Procurement team Suppliers 130

Procurement Leaders

JULY 22, 2024

A couple of years ago, the CPO of a major international chemicals company shared an image with me. At first glance, it was innocuous. Only when he pointed it out, did I notice a footprint on the floor of the factory that the image was of. And only after he had brought my attention to the scale of that footprint did it dawn on me that it belonged to a child.

Raw materials 130

Raw materials Sustainability Supply Chain Efficiency Networking 130

Procurement Leaders

JULY 16, 2024

In partnership with Ivalua: CPOs must be prepared to pilot at pace, fail and learn from their mistakes to accelerate the adoption of AI and capture the full value that the technology offers

Procurement 100

Procurement 100