Procurement: Look to the Future, Not the Past

What is the value of Procurement? It is a question many have asked, but until now, no one has run a study directly comparing the views of Procurement practitioners with those of senior stakeholders. As this report shows, that is an important omission, for the reality in practice is often far different than observers might believe.

App Orchid and World Commerce & Contracting set out to fill that void. We hypothesized that there is a disconnect between Procurement’s perspective of the value they add and stakeholders’ perceptions of that value; that there are activities Procurement practitioners spend a significant percentage of their time on which do not really add value to the business; and that if Procurement had more time, they could focus on higher value-added activities.

To test our hypothesis we conducted two surveys and a set of follow-up interviews. One survey went to procurement executives and practitioners and the other went to C-suite stakeholders.

This whitepaper reflects the outcome of those surveys and interviews, with added context and commentary based on the experience and expertise of App Orchid and World Commerce & Contracting.

The research makes clear that Procurement needs to ask different and challenging questions – of themselves and of others. To try new things. To look to the future, not the past.