22 July 2010 | Michael Tickle

By Richard Russill, Gower, £17.99

4 out of 5

This book gives an overview of procurement risk management and its importance to various teams within organisations, not just to procurement. The author provides rationale for why procurement risk management is essential to business success. He offers a model for identifying and managing procurement risks called the “risk catcher”, which is made up of five key aspects of the risk landscape. For each aspect highlighted, Russill critically reviews remedies to them, as well as risk prevention.

I like the transparent structure of the topic and the risk catcher model, and in particular I see the section on the procurement process risks as highly relevant to buying organisations. If you are seeking rationale for the importance of engagement between buying teams and their internal customers, then the book gives some advice on mitigating these often overlooked risks. It also encourages procurement teams to widen their agenda beyond a cost-focused view.

The book is a good overview of the theory related to the topic, but it would be strengthened by some additional practical examples of how organisations have actively identified, managed and mitigated procurement risks. Indeed, many organisations have had to revisit their risk management policies, skills and tools during the recent economic turmoil to ensure all aspects of risk management are incorporated into their operations.

But I would recommend this as an introduction for buyers starting the journey of building their understanding and becoming more active towards managing procurement risk.

Michael Tickle is a supply chain and procurement consultant for PA Consulting Group