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28 July 2011 | Angeline Albert
Some 76 per cent of chief procurement
officers (CPOs) feel the skills of their purchasing staff either “need
improvement” (65 per cent) or display a “significant gap” (11 per cent), according
to research from Ardent Partners
A survey of 218 CPOs around the world,
entitled CPO Rising 2011, includes a
procurement competency matrix, which considered the higher-level skills a
purchasing department should have. Contract management, category management,
data analysis and presentation expertise were rated as average by CPOs, with no
competencies achieving a good or excellent rating.
The report said there was a “picture of a
very middle-of-the-road set of skills residing within the typical procurement
department”. It added: “For the average department, opportunities for
improvement abound.”
CPOs rated almost half of list of skills in
the matrix (six out of 14) as below average. These were managing supplier
performance, managing supplier risk, supply market knowledge, leveraging of
technology to drive business value, cash management and business consulting
skills.
Cash management and use of technology are
two areas CPOs should focus on to make it a core competency in their
department, said Ardent Partners. CPOs working towards this include Luca
Guzzabocca, director of procurement at Banca Monte Dei Paschi Di Siena in
Italy, who has cash management as a top organisational priority every year.
☛ For a copy of the report
contact Ardent Partners
