Procurement Executive Round Table (PERT) Symposium: “This event has been the best value I have ever received..."

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The Mpower Group

Feb 13, 2017, 03:00 ET

Chicago, IL (PRWEB) February 13, 2017 -- The Procurement Executive Round Table (PERT) met for its 3rd meeting on Tuesday 1/24/17 for a day long workshop on “Making the Transition from Strategic Sourcing to Category Management” and based on the energy and level of discussion, it was clearly a “HOT” topic. PERT is a relaunch of the highly successful Next Practices Xchange, “NPX,” and was hosted (again) by one of the founding members of that group, Craig Meadors of CNA. Including the new attendees at this event, the total participants to date have been 30 corporations and it continues to grow. When was the last time (after a full day) you heard a participant say “we need to add more time to the agenda next time”? Results of the Next Practices benchmarking survey prior to the meeting helped set the stage for the discussion. Dalip Raheja, President and CEO and Anne Kohler, EVP and COO of The Mpower Group facilitated the session leading to the following conclusions:

  • No common definition for Category Management and very few companies are doing it
  • TMG presented their proprietary Maturity Model (developed in 2001 and enhanced significantly since then) as a framework for the discussion.
  • One of the Maturity Model domains, Risk Management, generated lots of interest with the impact of a black swan event like the recent elections and the significant changes in trade policy that has on organizational strategies. Stay tuned for lots more to come from PERT on this.
  • The differences between Strategic Sourcing and Category Management are fairly significant, especially in:

o Value (defined by stakeholders) over TCO
o Change Management challenges
o Need for totally different Competencies
o Level and Quality of Executive support

  • The challenges associated with making the transition from Strategic Sourcing to Category Management are also significant, especially in:

o Role of Sourcing – how to change it
o Governance – setting up appropriate mechanisms
o Behavioral Changes – for ALL elements of the “system”
o Supplier Relationships

The group quickly moved into how to get through a few of the challenges that were articulated. Here is a sample:

  • Be realistic about the time line – it is a journey
  • New competencies required (Strategic) in Supply Chain / Procurement organizations that support the roles of Strategic Business Partner, Change Agent, Consultant and not just Process Leader
  • New metrics
  • New relationship with Suppliers – away from adversarial to collaborative
  • Address higher order needs – don’t get bogged down in small buys
  • Brand / market your value

About PERT
Procurement Executive Round Table (PERT), is a collaboration between The Mpower Group, Corporate United and ISM-Chicago. PERT is a “members-only” peer-to-peer organization comprised of senior executives from Fortune 1,000 organizations.The group meets quarterly to share ideas in a forum setting, provide advanced solutions and network. Each member brings expertise and varied talents to the group which allows all members to benefit from participation. PERT addresses major Global Sourcing and Supply Chain challenges such as:

  • Making the Transition from Strategic Sourcing to Category Management
  • TCO = Destroy Value? Going Beyond Cost and Applying Next Practices to Create Value
  • How to Attract and Retain the “A” Team?
  • Integration Of Technology Into the Supply Chain
  • Relationship Management & Governance
  • Redefining the Role of the CPO

About The Mpower Group

The Mpower Group (TMG) is a global management consulting firm. We work with Fortune 500 companies to unleash the potential in their Strategic Sourcing, Procurement and Supply Chain organizations through Strategic Talent Management, Accelerating Transformations, and Maximizing Value from large or complex transactions. TMG is in the business of Mpowering our clients to accelerate exceptional business results by unleashing the full potential of their organizations. Our expertise ranges from developing strategies and executing large, global business transformations across entire organizations to assistance with specific projects or individual transactions.

Rick Sandoval, The Mpower Group, http://thempowergroup.com/, +1 (630) 268-8963, [email protected]