9 December 2010 | Jonathan O'Brien
by Caroline Booth
Kogan Page, £19.99
5 stars
There is no shortage of books on procurement. But most seem to focus on what an organisation does at the back end, the bit that is supplier facing. Caroline Booth breaks this pattern and provides a powerful and fresh perspective on what procurement really is and how senior teams need to view the contribution that it can make to their business.
The often elusive concept of “strategic” procurement is brought to life in a compelling and easy read that challenges many of the traditional views of procurement, and describes what good purchasing is using a series of illustrations and models.
It is an engaging collection of bite-sized insights that help you to understand procurement and what you need to know. It is then left to
the reader to work out how to put these together and do something useful with them. It is light on practical examples and does not provide a map for how to actually do this in practice. But a powerful achievement of the book is to help change the mindset of the reader. Individuals with less experience might be challenged to relate to everything immediately.
One theme running through the book is the concept of considering the end-to-end value stream – understanding the value proposition you offer and plan to offer to your end customer, and then structuring your procurement approach to deliver this. There is also essential guidance on the strategic principles of good outsourcing, making procurement a business-wide concern and getting your supplier relationships right.
Strategic Procurement is a must-have for anyone in a senior role, whether in procurement or not. Those new to procurement should buy it, read it, and read it again in two years’ time.
* Jonathan O’Brien, director, Positive Purchasing
