REAL PROCUREMENT TRANSFORMATION

A manual explains how business leaders can positively transform an organization’s procurement strategy.

According to Hustwick, a well-functioning procurement team can have a major impact on the overall operations of a company: “The leverage and impact a high-performing procurement team can have on an organisation are huge if the team has the right processes, technology and custody of its external spend.” In fact, successful procurement can increase a business’s overall competitiveness as well as its shareholder value. But procurement is often an undervalued part of a company, demoted to the third or fourth tier in a management structure and often considered a service provider rather than a fully integrated part of an organization’s priorities. The author furnishes a remarkably detailed plan for the transformation of a procurement team that begins with gaining the endorsement of the CEO and includes establishing an overarching strategy. Hustwick manages to condense a complex set of recommendations into an accessible plan, one represented by a “transformation wheel” that is subdivided into the six main target areas of procurement, including strategy, resources, executive sponsorship, process, technical skills and technology, and communication and reporting. The author’s analysis of procurement and its potential for transformation is impressively straightforward—his counsel is thorough but is presented in under 100 pages, often helpfully illustrated with various graphics. He covers an astonishing expanse of ground with great clarity—sourcing processes, cost reduction, and personnel, among many other subjects, and some issues are centrally significant today, like supply chain assurance. Hustwick’s expertise is never in doubt—his 25 years of experience at a major global corporation are evident on every page. This book will primarily be of interest to procurement specialists. But given the significance the author convincingly assigns to procurement, it should also be helpful to a general audience of business leaders.

A comprehensive and admirably unconventional guide to corporate procurement.