Grosvenor's 2024 Annual Procurement study, Stronger Together - The secret to the success of better practice procurement teams - we looked at what makes the difference between a highly mature procurement function and those who are less mature. How mature is your procurement team?
The results of our research weren’t a complete surprise to us as we have been seeing more and more evidence that it is the soft skills rather than the technical skills that count in modern day procurement functions.
Grosvenor undertakes annual research into the State of Procurement and Contract Management in Australia. Over the past six years, we have talked to 640 organisations to track what is top of mind for their procurement teams. What comes out on top for 2024?
From our latest annual procurement research, Stronger Together, we know what it takes to level up the maturity of your procurement team or your whole procurement function. And the results may surprise you! It is not the way you negotiate with suppliers. So what is it?
63% of respondents to our research indicated that their stakeholders are “somewhat happy” or “very happy” with the way that the procurement function works in their organisation. How do you further improve stakeholder satisfaction?
70% of teams we researched in 2024 said that they do not use AI in document creation and 63% say they do not use AI in any other form. It is fair to say that AI has not been adopted widely by Australian procurement teams. But is that about to change?
The integration of AI technologies is revolutionising procurement. By automating manual processes, leveraging predictive analytics, and enhancing decision-making capabilities, AI empowers procurement professionals to drive efficiency, mitigate risks, and achieve strategic objectives.
Procurement category management emerges as a crucial element in achieving sustainable success. By implementing a comprehensive category management framework, organisations can navigate the complexities of the supply chain, optimise costs, and build resilient supplier relationships.
One of the most powerful tools in procurement is an effective Category Management Plan which enables organisations to optimise their purchasing processes, drive cost savings, and enhance supplier relationships.
We investigate the key trends that are shaping the future of procurement, what Grosvenor’s research found to be the key priorities for 2024 and give you strategies that you can adopt to stay ahead of the curve.
Lean Six Sigma can transform procurement practices with a structured and systematic approach to procurement.
Grosvenor undertakes annual research into the state of procurement and contract management in Australia. Over the past five years we have talked to close to 600 organisations to track what is top of mind for their procurement teams. So what is top of mind in 2023?
Our latest research report, Geared to High Performance, reveals that more than 70% of organisations deploy operational contract management, vendor management and strategic partner management to improve supply chain performance.
Grosvenor's latest State of Procurement in Australia research titled Geared to High Performance, reveals five interventions that make the biggest difference on supplier performance.
Strategic Partner Management is all about friction-free sharing of information and includes the senior leadership of clients and suppliers to improve the ease of doing business.
The top four tips of how to achieve best value from your relationships with vendors of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) products.
The power imbalance in Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is high to very high. The other party is often a large multinational company who is not willing to negotiate on product specifications, on pricing nor on contract terms & conditions.
We spoke to 74 procurement organisations in Australia and their number one concern is… none of the above. Resourcing takes out the top spot. Specifically, the inability to find, recruit and train talent to keep up with the workload.
Often, contract management is something that gets thrown at you. Without much explanation of what is required. That changes today! Purchase the seven-part contract management webinar series now. Each 45-minute webinar lesson covers everything you need to know about the art of successful contract management and improving supplier performance.
As a new CPO you need to make an impact. Fast. Ideally within 100 days. This is important to win trust. Trust from the wider business that procurement will be better this time round. Better, in the sense of being able to help the organisation deliver the strategic goals. An enabler, rather than a roadblock. A coach, not a police offer.
Ultimately every organisation is making a decision of where its procurement function should sit on the maturity curve taking into account the cost to implement better practice and the value-add this function will generate. So, where does your organisation sit on this maturity curve, and how does this compare to other organisations?
How do you set up the right organisational structure for your procurement team? An important decision when answering that question is to set the degree of centralisation: which activities will be done by people outside of the immediate procurement team, versus which activities are done by that team themselves?
A common issue for procurement teams is to manage the expectations of the rest of the business. This includes communicating just how long it takes to procure goods and services. We provide the following benchmarks in the hope that this allows procurement teams to point to the fact that right across organisations in Australia, the typical procurement projects take a fair bit of time.
At Grosvenor Procurement Advisory, we undertake annual research to better understand procurement and contracting in Australia. This article provides a summary of our research topics with links to download our highly sought after ebooks for free.
Assuring the supply base and its viability is currently an important procurement goal. So how exactly are organisations dealing with mitigation of supply risk? What can you learn and adopt?
Let’s face it, we’re light years behind in how we source and manage suppliers. At least in comparison to how we select and lead our staff. In fact we'd argue that the same strategies work across managing people and managing suppliers. And that those organisations that do receive much better performance from their supply base
Often, contract management is something that gets thrown at you. Without much explanation of what is required. That changes today! Purchase the seven-part contract management webinar series now. Each 45-minute webinar lesson covers everything you need to know about the art of successful contract management and improving supplier performance.
Contract managers right across Australia face difficulties in getting the most from their suppliers. How can we set up our contractual relationships so that the supplier will go the extra mile? Look no further than how we manage our staff and you get an idea of what better practice looks like. Here is a list of seven challenges contract managers often face and how to overcome them.
Let’s face it, we’re light years behind in how we source and manage suppliers. At least in comparison to how we select and lead our staff. In fact we’d argue that the same strategies work across managing people and managing suppliers. And that those organisations that do receive much better performance from their supply base
Often, contract management is something that gets thrown at you. Without much explanation of what is required. That changes today! Purchase the seven-part contract management webinar series now. Each 45-minute webinar lesson covers everything you need to know about the art of successful contract management and improving supplier performance.
We have gut feeling about plenty of things and maybe we think we know what works when it comes to incentivising behaviour. That’s because we know how we respond to sticks and carrots. But maybe not everyone responds as we do. Maybe different situations call for different approaches.
Problems with suppliers create problems for your business. Consider those suppliers who can’t meet deadlines, are financially unstable, have staffing issues, can’t deliver the required quality of work or have weak compliance standards – the list of potential problems can run on and on.
A recurring theme for many procurement staff is the erosion over time of the actual
performance of their service contracts. Why is it that, despite the increasing use of
robust tools and templates and the increasing proficiency of procurement staff,
purchasers continue to feel dissatisfied with their contracts?
Anyone who’s ever come into contact with a toddler will know that for most of us negotiation skills are learnt early. Unlike a toddler, adult negotiators understand that there are two sides to any negotiation and both negotiators want to have their needs met. Here’s how to negotiate the best outcomes for your contract, while keeping your supplier relationships intact.
It never ceases to amaze me how important the simple things like returning a phone call or responding to email are to successful buyer / seller relationships. Funny how we expect a supplier to respond and even fall over themselves when we need them. But do we always show the same respect back? Is it ok not to just because we are the ones handing over the cash?
With their focus on keeping supplier costs down, Australasian Chief Procurement Officers are used to having their attention trained on the external market: but did you know you can almost double your savings by turning your attention inside the organisation too?
Services have become a significant part of Australia’s economy. However, businesses are not always sure how to align their purchasing function with this trend. This whitepaper explores differences between physical goods and services and how these influence the procurement function.
Much has been written about the relationship between leadership and staff performance. There’s no doubt that better leaders also produce better business outcomes. Yet, this kind of thinking is usually limited to staff management. It does not extend to the positive impact leadership might have on the performance of suppliers.
Organisations successful in managing supply chains understand the value of managing effective relationships with their suppliers. These organisations have a knack of building trust and confidence with their suppliers which leads to knowledge sharing and the identification of improvement opportunities.
You may have heard the saying, ‘what gets measured gets done’. Use of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) is the main way supplier performance is measured and the main mechanism for driving supplier behaviour. Here’s some tips on how to develop and measure best practice KPIs to encourage ongoing performance and exceptional outcomes from your suppliers.
The ink on the supplier contract is drying. They’re ready to start contract delivery. How do you harness the goodwill, ensure easy and successful implementation and a functional working relationship for years to come? With a Contract Management Plan (CMP) of course!
Issue management can be difficult and confronting for everyone involved. As with any relationship, there will be times when things don’t go to plan and problems crop up. As the contract manager, it falls to you to get things back on course. Here’s how to prevent minor contract issues from becoming major challenges for you and your supplier.
Responsible procurement contributes to a sustainable world. It can also help your organisation build a stronger reputation, grow brand recognition, increase revenue and improve consumer confidence. Last year, the International Standard for Sustainable Procurement ISO 20400 was released as a guide to implementing social responsibility and sustainability through the procurement process.
Many people in modern society might think of slavery and child labour as stories from their history books that no longer exist. However, according to Andrew Forrest, Chairman of Fortescue Mining Group and the Walk Free Foundation, “We are all going to have slavery in our supply chains no matter how good we think our corporate social responsibility is”.
Chances are, social responsibility is not the key driver for your organisation! It might be a nice-to-have, but your key driver is more likely to be super-pleasing your customers, maintaining a competitive-advantage or implementing public policies.
When contracting for services, a lot of attention is focused on the initial contract cost. Hours of spreadsheet time is spent analysing and comparing tendered fees. Unfortunately, very little thought goes into how the ongoing service is paid for and how the ‘pricing model’ (not the initial tendered fee) determines value for money and delivers quality outcomes.
A recurring theme for many procurement staff is the erosion over time of the actual performance of their service contracts. Why is it that, despite the increasing use of robust tools and templates and the increasing proficiency of procurement staff, purchasers continue to feel dissatisfied with their contracts? Over time; price creep, scope pullback, service level failures, lack of innovation and increasing levels of distrust increasingly characterise their customers’ experiences. We have coined the term; the Disappointment Gap, for this phenomenon.
Effective communication is an essential skill for Contract Managers. Communicating well is all about making sure the right people have the right information at the right time. But how do you communicate confidently and consistently with your stakeholders to ensure the successful management of your contract and project performance? Answer the following four questions for a helpful starting point to developing your communications plan.
Indemnities and insurance both guard against financial losses and aim to restore a party to the financial status they held before the event occurred. However, it’s important that Contract Managers understand the significant difference between the two to help protect their business.
A contract can be defined as: “A legally binding agreement between two or more parties”. Contract law, which forms the legal basis for contract management, is an interesting and complex topic. But there are three terms of contract law that are particularly important for a Contract Manager to understand to ensure contract delivery and best practice supplier management. They are privity, estoppel and document precedence.
Governments across Australia contract more and more essential services from not-for-profit and non-government organisations (NGOs). Prime examples are the rollout of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and the NSW Smart, Skilled and Hired program. But how should government agencies go about incentivising these service providers to achieve or better exceed performance expectations?
Long before your contract expires, you should be planning your approach to the contract close out phase. Of course it’s easier to just extend an existing contract. But is it best value for money? Does it effectively address your organisation’s risk exposure? A Contract Extension Checklist can help you make the best contract decision for your business.
Often, contract management is something that gets thrown at you. Without much explanation of what is required. That changes today! Purchase the seven-part contract management webinar series now. Each 45-minute webinar lesson covers everything you need to know about the art of successful contract management and improving supplier performance.
Listen to Stefan Gassner, our Director and Head of our Procurement Advisory, speak with Genevieve Malcolm from AcademyGlobal. Discussing the findings and insights from our latest study, ‘What Finance can (and should) expect of Procurement’.
Often, contract management is something that gets thrown at you. Without much explanation of what is required. That changes today! Purchase the seven-part contract management webinar series now. Each 45-minute webinar lesson covers everything you need to know about the art of successful contract management and improving supplier performance.
From our latest annual procurement research, Stronger Together, we know what it takes to level up the maturity of your procurement team or your whole procurement function. And the results may surprise you! It is not the way you negotiate with suppliers. So what is it?
Grosvenor undertakes annual research into the State of Procurement and Contract Management in Australia. Over the past six years, we have talked to 640 organisations to track what is top of mind for their procurement teams. What comes out on top for 2024?
Grosvenor’s 2024 Annual Procurement study, Stronger Together – The secret to the success of better practice procurement teams – we looked at what makes the difference between a highly mature procurement function and those who are less mature. How mature is your procurement team?
At Grosvenor we undertake annual research into the state of the procurement profession in Australia. This year we want to understand what ‘better practice’ means and make that measurable through benchmarks that are specific to Australia.
Participate now!
At Grosvenor Procurement Advisory, we undertake annual research to better understand procurement and contracting in Australia. This article provides a summary of our research topics with links to download our highly sought after ebooks for free.
Let’s face it, we’re light years behind in how we source and manage suppliers. At least in comparison to how we select and lead our staff. In fact we’d argue that the same strategies work across managing people and managing suppliers. And that those organisations that do receive much better performance from their supply base
Procurement professionals have four spend levers in their toolbox. But which ones were mainly used to combat the impact of the COVID-19 recession? Read on to find that it was the more traditional negotiations that procurement turned to in 2020 and how to generate further savings in 2021.
Public sector procurement teams were tasked with introducing stimulus into the economy rather than reducing cost as was the case in the private sector. How long is this going to last? We surveyed 46 public sector procurement functions in 2020 to understand how the COVID-19 crisis impacted procurement teams in Australia.
Findings from our industry study, ‘What Finanance can (and should) expect of Procurement’; we found that not a single respondent from the public sector said cost was one of the most important area of focus. It wasn’t just cost that public sector procurement teams did not consider to be an important area of focus; again, not a single respondent said that risk reduction was an important area of focus, too.
It’s as simple as that: Procurement and the rest of the business are not on the same page. If you’re already nodding your head in agreement, you’re not alone. More than half of the respondents to our survey indicated that their procurement function operates in a vacuum.
In my last article, Is there a pot of gold hidden in your procurement spend? I mentioned that one of the goals of our 2018 Procurement Study was to unlock a set of indicators that could be used to identify which categories, supplier and contracts are likely to yield the greatest opportunities to reduce spend.
Every year Grosvenor conducts a research study focusing on a specific area of procurement practice. These insights are used to inform our industry by aggregating real world experiences from Australian organisations and turn them into strategies that allow us to share knowledge and drive change within our own organisations.
We have gut feeling about plenty of things and maybe we think we know what works when it comes to incentivising behaviour. That’s because we know how we respond to sticks and carrots. But maybe not everyone responds as we do. Maybe different situations call for different approaches.
Grosvenor benchmarked 31 organisations across Australia and internationally to understand what controls were in place to address the risk of modern slavery within their supply chains. Through our research in June 2018, we discovered what was considered best practice and what organisations across the country can be doing now to address modern slavery risks within their supply chains.
It never ceases to amaze me how important the simple things like returning a phone call or responding to email are to successful buyer / seller relationships. Funny how we expect a supplier to respond and even fall over themselves when we need them. But do we always show the same respect back? Is it ok not to just because we are the ones handing over the cash?
With their focus on keeping supplier costs down, Australasian Chief Procurement Officers are used to having their attention trained on the external market: but did you know you can almost double your savings by turning your attention inside the organisation too?
A 2014 Australasian study has found that public sector organisations have at least twice as many procurement staff as private sector organisations. It is probably easy to surmise that this is a consequence of the high accountability, probity and compliance expectations of government. In effect, procurement processes in the public sector are more involved than in the private sector.
Services have become a significant part of Australia’s economy. However, businesses are not always sure how to align their purchasing function with this trend. This whitepaper explores differences between physical goods and services and how these influence the procurement function.
In 2015, Grosvenor collaborated with PASA to survey hundreds of top procurement professionals in Australasia. Why? Because we wanted to identify the most effective savings tactics in use, and understand who was using them to the best effect. What we discovered might surprise you.
As a new CPO you need to make an impact. Fast. Ideally within 100 days. This is important to win trust. Trust from the wider business that procurement will be better this time round. Better, in the sense of being able to help the organisation deliver the strategic goals. An enabler, rather than a roadblock. A coach, not a police offer.
Procurement professionals have four spend levers in their toolbox. But which ones were mainly used to combat the impact of the COVID-19 recession? Read on to find that it was the more traditional negotiations that procurement turned to in 2020 and how to generate further savings in 2021.
In my last article, Is there a pot of gold hidden in your procurement spend? I mentioned that one of the goals of our 2018 Procurement Study was to unlock a set of indicators that could be used to identify which categories, supplier and contracts are likely to yield the greatest opportunities to reduce spend.
Every year Grosvenor conducts a research study focusing on a specific area of procurement practice. These insights are used to inform our industry by aggregating real world experiences from Australian organisations and turn them into strategies that allow us to share knowledge and drive change within our own organisations.
Levers provide you with efficiencies that help move otherwise impossible loads with ease. As a user of these levers, it’s important to be aware of what levers exist and when to use the right lever at the right time. You’d never use a crowbar, for example, to lift the lid on the Milo tin, just like you’d never try to shift that pile of bricks with a pair of tweezers.
When we think of generating savings, many of us automatically think of simply paying less for goods and services: whether we’re talking about tenders, volume aggregation or minimising contract leakage, this tried and tested method of using spending power to beat down prices has delivered significant savings over the years.
In 2015, Grosvenor collaborated with PASA to survey hundreds of top procurement professionals in Australasia. Why? Because we wanted to identify the most effective savings tactics in use, and understand who was using them to the best effect. What we discovered might surprise you.
Often the answer to why your existing system is not firing from all cylinders can be found in our previous article. It’s likely that your implementation project skipped one of those lessons-learnt and you have consequently ended up in a situation where the uptake of your system is poor, end users complain about the usability, manual workarounds are in place, suppliers are unhappy and most of the benefits from your business case have gone out the window.
Ask yourself these 5 questions if you’re thinking about getting a Contingent Workforce Management solution: 1. Are you paying the same rate for the same type of employee across the whole business?, 2. Do you know what technology solutions the market offers?, 3. …
Ask yourself these 5 questions if you’re thinking about getting a procurement system: 1. Do you know the current procurement technology market and capabilities?, 2. Are your procurement processes fit for purpose and ready to be supported by a system?, 3. …
Ask yourself these 5 questions if you have a Contingent Workforce Management system: 1. Are your processes now faster and more efficient? All of them?, 2. Is everyone happy with the system and consistently using it?, 3. …
What is your team’s procurement maturity level? Are you already established? Perhaps emerging? Or you aren’t sure? Based on the latest Australian procurement research, we have developed a system to define the level of your team’s procurement maturity. We can develop a report for you, which contrasts your team’s current state with better practice and makes meaningful and actionable recommendations for how your team can progress to the next level up. The benefits of higher procurement maturity: you can achieve higher savings your stakeholders will have a better customer experience you will have better supplier relationships your team will have…
From our latest annual procurement research, Stronger Together, we know what it takes to level up the maturity of your procurement team or your whole procurement function. And the results may surprise you! It is not the way you negotiate with suppliers. So what is it?
Grosvenor undertakes annual research into the State of Procurement and Contract Management in Australia. Over the past six years, we have talked to 640 organisations to track what is top of mind for their procurement teams. What comes out on top for 2024?
Grosvenor’s 2024 Annual Procurement study, Stronger Together – The secret to the success of better practice procurement teams – we looked at what makes the difference between a highly mature procurement function and those who are less mature. How mature is your procurement team?
The integration of AI technologies is revolutionising procurement. By automating manual processes, leveraging predictive analytics, and enhancing decision-making capabilities, AI empowers procurement professionals to drive efficiency, mitigate risks, and achieve strategic objectives.
Procurement category management emerges as a crucial element in achieving sustainable success. By implementing a comprehensive category management framework, organisations can navigate the complexities of the supply chain, optimise costs, and build resilient supplier relationships.
Grosvenor undertakes annual research into the state of procurement and contract management in Australia. Over the past five years we have talked to close to 600 organisations to track what is top of mind for their procurement teams. So what is top of mind in 2023?
FinOps is a set of cultural practices for proactively managing dynamic spend incurred using cloud infrastructure. It aims to maximise the value of cloud infrastructure by aligning spend with defined business objectives. It requires organisational change to enable cross organisational collaboration and is driven by a central FinOps team but delegates financial decisions and accountability to users of the cloud infrastructure.
Often, contract management is something that gets thrown at you. Without much explanation of what is required. That changes today! Purchase the seven-part contract management webinar series now. Each 45-minute webinar lesson covers everything you need to know about the art of successful contract management and improving supplier performance.
A common issue for procurement teams is to manage the expectations of the rest of the business. This includes communicating just how long it takes to procure goods and services. We provide the following benchmarks in the hope that this allows procurement teams to point to the fact that right across organisations in Australia, the typical procurement projects take a fair bit of time.
Ultimately every organisation is making a decision of where its procurement function should sit on the maturity curve taking into account the cost to implement better practice and the value-add this function will generate. So, where does your organisation sit on this maturity curve, and how does this compare to other organisations?
How do you set up the right organisational structure for your procurement team? An important decision when answering that question is to set the degree of centralisation: which activities will be done by people outside of the immediate procurement team, versus which activities are done by that team themselves?
At Grosvenor we undertake annual research into the state of the procurement profession in Australia. This year we want to understand what ‘better practice’ means and make that measurable through benchmarks that are specific to Australia.
Participate now!
Contract managers right across Australia face difficulties in getting the most from their suppliers. How can we set up our contractual relationships so that the supplier will go the extra mile? Look no further than how we manage our staff and you get an idea of what better practice looks like. Here is a list of seven challenges contract managers often face and how to overcome them.
As a new CPO you need to make an impact. Fast. Ideally within 100 days. This is important to win trust. Trust from the wider business that procurement will be better this time round. Better, in the sense of being able to help the organisation deliver the strategic goals. An enabler, rather than a roadblock. A coach, not a police offer.
At Grosvenor Procurement Advisory, we undertake annual research to better understand procurement and contracting in Australia. This article provides a summary of our research topics with links to download our highly sought after ebooks for free.
Let’s face it, we’re light years behind in how we source and manage suppliers. At least in comparison to how we select and lead our staff. In fact we’d argue that the same strategies work across managing people and managing suppliers. And that those organisations that do receive much better performance from their supply base
Procurement professionals have four spend levers in their toolbox. But which ones were mainly used to combat the impact of the COVID-19 recession? Read on to find that it was the more traditional negotiations that procurement turned to in 2020 and how to generate further savings in 2021.
Public sector procurement teams were tasked with introducing stimulus into the economy rather than reducing cost as was the case in the private sector. How long is this going to last? We surveyed 46 public sector procurement functions in 2020 to understand how the COVID-19 crisis impacted procurement teams in Australia.
Often the answer to why your existing system is not firing from all cylinders can be found in our previous article. It’s likely that your implementation project skipped one of those lessons-learnt and you have consequently ended up in a situation where the uptake of your system is poor, end users complain about the usability, manual workarounds are in place, suppliers are unhappy and most of the benefits from your business case have gone out the window.
Ask yourself these 5 questions if you’re thinking about getting a Contingent Workforce Management solution: 1. Are you paying the same rate for the same type of employee across the whole business?, 2. Do you know what technology solutions the market offers?, 3. …
Ask yourself these 5 questions if you’re thinking about getting a procurement system: 1. Do you know the current procurement technology market and capabilities?, 2. Are your procurement processes fit for purpose and ready to be supported by a system?, 3. …
Ask yourself these 5 questions if you have a Contingent Workforce Management system: 1. Are your processes now faster and more efficient? All of them?, 2. Is everyone happy with the system and consistently using it?, 3. …
What a different world this is! Just three months ago we published our research on what the focus of procurement teams should be. Now we need to start from scratch as the COVID-19 pandemic rewrites the rules of business around the world.
Listen to Stefan Gassner, our Director and Head of our Procurement Advisory, speak with Genevieve Malcolm from AcademyGlobal. Discussing the findings and insights from our latest study, ‘What Finance can (and should) expect of Procurement’.
Often, contract management is something that gets thrown at you. Without much explanation of what is required. That changes today! Purchase the seven-part contract management webinar series now. Each 45-minute webinar lesson covers everything you need to know about the art of successful contract management and improving supplier performance.
Findings from our industry study, ‘What Finanance can (and should) expect of Procurement’; we found that not a single respondent from the public sector said cost was one of the most important area of focus. It wasn’t just cost that public sector procurement teams did not consider to be an important area of focus; again, not a single respondent said that risk reduction was an important area of focus, too.
It’s as simple as that: Procurement and the rest of the business are not on the same page. If you’re already nodding your head in agreement, you’re not alone. More than half of the respondents to our survey indicated that their procurement function operates in a vacuum.
Grosvenor and Progressive Systems undertake regular research to understand the state of the procurement profession in Australia and New Zealand. This report details our findings from surveying 98 organisations about their efforts to implement sustainable practices in their procurement function.
In my last article, Is there a pot of gold hidden in your procurement spend? I mentioned that one of the goals of our 2018 Procurement Study was to unlock a set of indicators that could be used to identify which categories, supplier and contracts are likely to yield the greatest opportunities to reduce spend.
Every year Grosvenor conducts a research study focusing on a specific area of procurement practice. These insights are used to inform our industry by aggregating real world experiences from Australian organisations and turn them into strategies that allow us to share knowledge and drive change within our own organisations.
Levers provide you with efficiencies that help move otherwise impossible loads with ease. As a user of these levers, it’s important to be aware of what levers exist and when to use the right lever at the right time. You’d never use a crowbar, for example, to lift the lid on the Milo tin, just like you’d never try to shift that pile of bricks with a pair of tweezers.
We have gut feeling about plenty of things and maybe we think we know what works when it comes to incentivising behaviour. That’s because we know how we respond to sticks and carrots. But maybe not everyone responds as we do. Maybe different situations call for different approaches.
Problems with suppliers create problems for your business. Consider those suppliers who can’t meet deadlines, are financially unstable, have staffing issues, can’t deliver the required quality of work or have weak compliance standards – the list of potential problems can run on and on.
Grosvenor benchmarked 31 organisations across Australia and internationally to understand what controls were in place to address the risk of modern slavery within their supply chains. Through our research in June 2018, we discovered what was considered best practice and what organisations across the country can be doing now to address modern slavery risks within their supply chains.
A recurring theme for many procurement staff is the erosion over time of the actual
performance of their service contracts. Why is it that, despite the increasing use of
robust tools and templates and the increasing proficiency of procurement staff,
purchasers continue to feel dissatisfied with their contracts?
Anyone who’s ever come into contact with a toddler will know that for most of us negotiation skills are learnt early. Unlike a toddler, adult negotiators understand that there are two sides to any negotiation and both negotiators want to have their needs met. Here’s how to negotiate the best outcomes for your contract, while keeping your supplier relationships intact.
It never ceases to amaze me how important the simple things like returning a phone call or responding to email are to successful buyer / seller relationships. Funny how we expect a supplier to respond and even fall over themselves when we need them. But do we always show the same respect back? Is it ok not to just because we are the ones handing over the cash?
With their focus on keeping supplier costs down, Australasian Chief Procurement Officers are used to having their attention trained on the external market: but did you know you can almost double your savings by turning your attention inside the organisation too?
When we think of generating savings, many of us automatically think of simply paying less for goods and services: whether we’re talking about tenders, volume aggregation or minimising contract leakage, this tried and tested method of using spending power to beat down prices has delivered significant savings over the years.
A 2014 Australasian study has found that public sector organisations have at least twice as many procurement staff as private sector organisations. It is probably easy to surmise that this is a consequence of the high accountability, probity and compliance expectations of government. In effect, procurement processes in the public sector are more involved than in the private sector.
Services have become a significant part of Australia’s economy. However, businesses are not always sure how to align their purchasing function with this trend. This whitepaper explores differences between physical goods and services and how these influence the procurement function.
Much has been written about the relationship between leadership and staff performance. There’s no doubt that better leaders also produce better business outcomes. Yet, this kind of thinking is usually limited to staff management. It does not extend to the positive impact leadership might have on the performance of suppliers.
Organisations successful in managing supply chains understand the value of managing effective relationships with their suppliers. These organisations have a knack of building trust and confidence with their suppliers which leads to knowledge sharing and the identification of improvement opportunities.
In 2015, Grosvenor collaborated with PASA to survey hundreds of top procurement professionals in Australasia. Why? Because we wanted to identify the most effective savings tactics in use, and understand who was using them to the best effect. What we discovered might surprise you.
You may have heard the saying, ‘what gets measured gets done’. Use of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) is the main way supplier performance is measured and the main mechanism for driving supplier behaviour. Here’s some tips on how to develop and measure best practice KPIs to encourage ongoing performance and exceptional outcomes from your suppliers.
With spend in supply chains representing an average of 60% of an organisation’s budget, procurement strategy and processes have a profound ability to affect the social, environmental and economic sustainability of business at large. The power of procurement to contribute, both positively and negatively, to sustainable objectives has never been so widely recognised.
The ink on the supplier contract is drying. They’re ready to start contract delivery. How do you harness the goodwill, ensure easy and successful implementation and a functional working relationship for years to come? With a Contract Management Plan (CMP) of course!
Issue management can be difficult and confronting for everyone involved. As with any relationship, there will be times when things don’t go to plan and problems crop up. As the contract manager, it falls to you to get things back on course. Here’s how to prevent minor contract issues from becoming major challenges for you and your supplier.
Responsible procurement contributes to a sustainable world. It can also help your organisation build a stronger reputation, grow brand recognition, increase revenue and improve consumer confidence. Last year, the International Standard for Sustainable Procurement ISO 20400 was released as a guide to implementing social responsibility and sustainability through the procurement process.
Many people in modern society might think of slavery and child labour as stories from their history books that no longer exist. However, according to Andrew Forrest, Chairman of Fortescue Mining Group and the Walk Free Foundation, “We are all going to have slavery in our supply chains no matter how good we think our corporate social responsibility is”.
Do you suspect that your contract is not performing as well as it could? There must be something you can do to get more out of your suppliers, right? Learn how the principles of leading staff also applies to the leadership of suppliers, in Grosvenor’s 3rd Annual Procurement Study.
Any head of procurement who has worked in government will know that effective procurement is a top priority in the public sector. But are you doing all you can to maximise the savings available?This year, Grosvenor collaborated with PASA to survey hundreds of top procurement professionals in Australasia (including a large number of federal and state government organisations) to identify where the next wave of procurement savings will come from.
Chances are, social responsibility is not the key driver for your organisation! It might be a nice-to-have, but your key driver is more likely to be super-pleasing your customers, maintaining a competitive-advantage or implementing public policies.
When contracting for services, a lot of attention is focused on the initial contract cost. Hours of spreadsheet time is spent analysing and comparing tendered fees. Unfortunately, very little thought goes into how the ongoing service is paid for and how the ‘pricing model’ (not the initial tendered fee) determines value for money and delivers quality outcomes.
Much has been written about the relationship between leadership and staff performance. There’s no doubt that better leaders also produce better business outcomes. Yet, this kind of thinking is usually limited to staff management. It does not extend to the positive impact leadership might have on the performance of suppliers. And that is despite the fact that businesses spend over 80% of their revenue on external suppliers depending on industry.
Hand on heart, do you think you’re giving your suppliers a similar level of attention and leadership as to your own team? It’s difficult, we get it. Internal demands can often seem more pressing – not least because you’re so much more easily accessible for the people who work with you onsite. But what if we told you that better leadership in supplier management is directly related to better business outcomes?
A recurring theme for many procurement staff is the erosion over time of the actual performance of their service contracts. Why is it that, despite the increasing use of robust tools and templates and the increasing proficiency of procurement staff, purchasers continue to feel dissatisfied with their contracts? Over time; price creep, scope pullback, service level failures, lack of innovation and increasing levels of distrust increasingly characterise their customers’ experiences. We have coined the term; the Disappointment Gap, for this phenomenon.
Effective communication is an essential skill for Contract Managers. Communicating well is all about making sure the right people have the right information at the right time. But how do you communicate confidently and consistently with your stakeholders to ensure the successful management of your contract and project performance? Answer the following four questions for a helpful starting point to developing your communications plan.
In Grosvenor’s latest procurement study, we investigated the relationship between supplier performance and leadership style more closely. After surveying 119 organisations in Australia, we found that Transformational Leaders receive up to 27% higher performance from their suppliers than leaders who prefer a different leadership style.
Supplier management is often something that gets thrown at you with little explanation of what is required, little to no training in how you monitor supplier performance or avoid the biggest traps. Spend less time worrying about poor performance and more time on making strategic decisions that truly deliver value for money for your organisation.
Indemnities and insurance both guard against financial losses and aim to restore a party to the financial status they held before the event occurred. However, it’s important that Contract Managers understand the significant difference between the two to help protect their business.
The culture of your contract will have been established early in the sourcing process. During the tender period, documentation and interactions with suppliers will have set the tone for the ongoing relationship during the contract management phase.
You could be forgiven for thinking that suppliers provide better performance to their larger clients. Or those that are more profitable. Or those that represent growth opportunities. After all, it would make sense that a supplier does everything they could, go the extra mile for their bigger clients. Well actually the data gathered in our 2017 Procurement Study tells us that the contract value or the size of the supplier has little impact on the level of performance the buyer receives.
A contract can be defined as: “A legally binding agreement between two or more parties”. Contract law, which forms the legal basis for contract management, is an interesting and complex topic. But there are three terms of contract law that are particularly important for a Contract Manager to understand to ensure contract delivery and best practice supplier management. They are privity, estoppel and document precedence.
Governments across Australia contract more and more essential services from not-for-profit and non-government organisations (NGOs). Prime examples are the rollout of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and the NSW Smart, Skilled and Hired program. But how should government agencies go about incentivising these service providers to achieve or better exceed performance expectations?
Long before your contract expires, you should be planning your approach to the contract close out phase. Of course it’s easier to just extend an existing contract. But is it best value for money? Does it effectively address your organisation’s risk exposure? A Contract Extension Checklist can help you make the best contract decision for your business.
Chances are that you suspect your contract isn’t performing as well as it could. There must be something you can do to get more out of your suppliers, right? Did you know that improving your leadership skills could improve supplier relationships and contract performance?
Often, contract management is something that gets thrown at you. Without much explanation of what is required. That changes today! Purchase the seven-part contract management webinar series now. Each 45-minute webinar lesson covers everything you need to know about the art of successful contract management and improving supplier performance.
Let’s face it, we’re light years behind in how we source and manage suppliers. At least in comparison to how we select and lead our staff. In fact we’d argue that the same strategies work across managing people and managing suppliers. And that those organisations that do receive much better performance from their supply base
Public sector procurement teams were tasked with introducing stimulus into the economy rather than reducing cost as was the case in the private sector. How long is this going to last? We surveyed 46 public sector procurement functions in 2020 to understand how the COVID-19 crisis impacted procurement teams in Australia.
Listen to Stefan Gassner, our Director and Head of our Procurement Advisory, speak with Genevieve Malcolm from AcademyGlobal. Discussing the findings and insights from our latest study, ‘What Finance can (and should) expect of Procurement’.
Often, contract management is something that gets thrown at you. Without much explanation of what is required. That changes today! Purchase the seven-part contract management webinar series now. Each 45-minute webinar lesson covers everything you need to know about the art of successful contract management and improving supplier performance.
Findings from our industry study, ‘What Finanance can (and should) expect of Procurement’; we found that not a single respondent from the public sector said cost was one of the most important area of focus. It wasn’t just cost that public sector procurement teams did not consider to be an important area of focus; again, not a single respondent said that risk reduction was an important area of focus, too.
Grosvenor and Progressive Systems undertake regular research to understand the state of the procurement profession in Australia and New Zealand. This report details our findings from surveying 98 organisations about their efforts to implement sustainable practices in their procurement function.
We have gut feeling about plenty of things and maybe we think we know what works when it comes to incentivising behaviour. That’s because we know how we respond to sticks and carrots. But maybe not everyone responds as we do. Maybe different situations call for different approaches.
Problems with suppliers create problems for your business. Consider those suppliers who can’t meet deadlines, are financially unstable, have staffing issues, can’t deliver the required quality of work or have weak compliance standards – the list of potential problems can run on and on.
Grosvenor benchmarked 31 organisations across Australia and internationally to understand what controls were in place to address the risk of modern slavery within their supply chains. Through our research in June 2018, we discovered what was considered best practice and what organisations across the country can be doing now to address modern slavery risks within their supply chains.
A recurring theme for many procurement staff is the erosion over time of the actual
performance of their service contracts. Why is it that, despite the increasing use of
robust tools and templates and the increasing proficiency of procurement staff,
purchasers continue to feel dissatisfied with their contracts?
A 2014 Australasian study has found that public sector organisations have at least twice as many procurement staff as private sector organisations. It is probably easy to surmise that this is a consequence of the high accountability, probity and compliance expectations of government. In effect, procurement processes in the public sector are more involved than in the private sector.
With spend in supply chains representing an average of 60% of an organisation’s budget, procurement strategy and processes have a profound ability to affect the social, environmental and economic sustainability of business at large. The power of procurement to contribute, both positively and negatively, to sustainable objectives has never been so widely recognised.
Often, contract management is something that gets thrown at you. Without much explanation of what is required. That changes today! Purchase the seven-part contract management webinar series now. Each 45-minute webinar lesson covers everything you need to know about the art of successful contract management and improving supplier performance.
Contract managers right across Australia face difficulties in getting the most from their suppliers. How can we set up our contractual relationships so that the supplier will go the extra mile? Look no further than how we manage our staff and you get an idea of what better practice looks like. Here is a list of seven challenges contract managers often face and how to overcome them.
Let’s face it, we’re light years behind in how we source and manage suppliers. At least in comparison to how we select and lead our staff. In fact we’d argue that the same strategies work across managing people and managing suppliers. And that those organisations that do receive much better performance from their supply base
Often, contract management is something that gets thrown at you. Without much explanation of what is required. That changes today! Purchase the seven-part contract management webinar series now. Each 45-minute webinar lesson covers everything you need to know about the art of successful contract management and improving supplier performance.
We have gut feeling about plenty of things and maybe we think we know what works when it comes to incentivising behaviour. That’s because we know how we respond to sticks and carrots. But maybe not everyone responds as we do. Maybe different situations call for different approaches.
Problems with suppliers create problems for your business. Consider those suppliers who can’t meet deadlines, are financially unstable, have staffing issues, can’t deliver the required quality of work or have weak compliance standards – the list of potential problems can run on and on.
A recurring theme for many procurement staff is the erosion over time of the actual
performance of their service contracts. Why is it that, despite the increasing use of
robust tools and templates and the increasing proficiency of procurement staff,
purchasers continue to feel dissatisfied with their contracts?
Anyone who’s ever come into contact with a toddler will know that for most of us negotiation skills are learnt early. Unlike a toddler, adult negotiators understand that there are two sides to any negotiation and both negotiators want to have their needs met. Here’s how to negotiate the best outcomes for your contract, while keeping your supplier relationships intact.
It never ceases to amaze me how important the simple things like returning a phone call or responding to email are to successful buyer / seller relationships. Funny how we expect a supplier to respond and even fall over themselves when we need them. But do we always show the same respect back? Is it ok not to just because we are the ones handing over the cash?
With their focus on keeping supplier costs down, Australasian Chief Procurement Officers are used to having their attention trained on the external market: but did you know you can almost double your savings by turning your attention inside the organisation too?
Services have become a significant part of Australia’s economy. However, businesses are not always sure how to align their purchasing function with this trend. This whitepaper explores differences between physical goods and services and how these influence the procurement function.
Much has been written about the relationship between leadership and staff performance. There’s no doubt that better leaders also produce better business outcomes. Yet, this kind of thinking is usually limited to staff management. It does not extend to the positive impact leadership might have on the performance of suppliers.
Organisations successful in managing supply chains understand the value of managing effective relationships with their suppliers. These organisations have a knack of building trust and confidence with their suppliers which leads to knowledge sharing and the identification of improvement opportunities.
You may have heard the saying, ‘what gets measured gets done’. Use of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) is the main way supplier performance is measured and the main mechanism for driving supplier behaviour. Here’s some tips on how to develop and measure best practice KPIs to encourage ongoing performance and exceptional outcomes from your suppliers.
The ink on the supplier contract is drying. They’re ready to start contract delivery. How do you harness the goodwill, ensure easy and successful implementation and a functional working relationship for years to come? With a Contract Management Plan (CMP) of course!
Issue management can be difficult and confronting for everyone involved. As with any relationship, there will be times when things don’t go to plan and problems crop up. As the contract manager, it falls to you to get things back on course. Here’s how to prevent minor contract issues from becoming major challenges for you and your supplier.
Responsible procurement contributes to a sustainable world. It can also help your organisation build a stronger reputation, grow brand recognition, increase revenue and improve consumer confidence. Last year, the International Standard for Sustainable Procurement ISO 20400 was released as a guide to implementing social responsibility and sustainability through the procurement process.
Many people in modern society might think of slavery and child labour as stories from their history books that no longer exist. However, according to Andrew Forrest, Chairman of Fortescue Mining Group and the Walk Free Foundation, “We are all going to have slavery in our supply chains no matter how good we think our corporate social responsibility is”.
Chances are, social responsibility is not the key driver for your organisation! It might be a nice-to-have, but your key driver is more likely to be super-pleasing your customers, maintaining a competitive-advantage or implementing public policies.
When contracting for services, a lot of attention is focused on the initial contract cost. Hours of spreadsheet time is spent analysing and comparing tendered fees. Unfortunately, very little thought goes into how the ongoing service is paid for and how the ‘pricing model’ (not the initial tendered fee) determines value for money and delivers quality outcomes.
A recurring theme for many procurement staff is the erosion over time of the actual performance of their service contracts. Why is it that, despite the increasing use of robust tools and templates and the increasing proficiency of procurement staff, purchasers continue to feel dissatisfied with their contracts? Over time; price creep, scope pullback, service level failures, lack of innovation and increasing levels of distrust increasingly characterise their customers’ experiences. We have coined the term; the Disappointment Gap, for this phenomenon.
Effective communication is an essential skill for Contract Managers. Communicating well is all about making sure the right people have the right information at the right time. But how do you communicate confidently and consistently with your stakeholders to ensure the successful management of your contract and project performance? Answer the following four questions for a helpful starting point to developing your communications plan.
Indemnities and insurance both guard against financial losses and aim to restore a party to the financial status they held before the event occurred. However, it’s important that Contract Managers understand the significant difference between the two to help protect their business.
A contract can be defined as: “A legally binding agreement between two or more parties”. Contract law, which forms the legal basis for contract management, is an interesting and complex topic. But there are three terms of contract law that are particularly important for a Contract Manager to understand to ensure contract delivery and best practice supplier management. They are privity, estoppel and document precedence.
Governments across Australia contract more and more essential services from not-for-profit and non-government organisations (NGOs). Prime examples are the rollout of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and the NSW Smart, Skilled and Hired program. But how should government agencies go about incentivising these service providers to achieve or better exceed performance expectations?
Long before your contract expires, you should be planning your approach to the contract close out phase. Of course it’s easier to just extend an existing contract. But is it best value for money? Does it effectively address your organisation’s risk exposure? A Contract Extension Checklist can help you make the best contract decision for your business.
As a new CPO you need to make an impact. Fast. Ideally within 100 days. This is important to win trust. Trust from the wider business that procurement will be better this time round. Better, in the sense of being able to help the organisation deliver the strategic goals. An enabler, rather than a roadblock. A coach, not a police offer.
Procurement professionals have four spend levers in their toolbox. But which ones were mainly used to combat the impact of the COVID-19 recession? Read on to find that it was the more traditional negotiations that procurement turned to in 2020 and how to generate further savings in 2021.
In my last article, Is there a pot of gold hidden in your procurement spend? I mentioned that one of the goals of our 2018 Procurement Study was to unlock a set of indicators that could be used to identify which categories, supplier and contracts are likely to yield the greatest opportunities to reduce spend.
Every year Grosvenor conducts a research study focusing on a specific area of procurement practice. These insights are used to inform our industry by aggregating real world experiences from Australian organisations and turn them into strategies that allow us to share knowledge and drive change within our own organisations.
Levers provide you with efficiencies that help move otherwise impossible loads with ease. As a user of these levers, it’s important to be aware of what levers exist and when to use the right lever at the right time. You’d never use a crowbar, for example, to lift the lid on the Milo tin, just like you’d never try to shift that pile of bricks with a pair of tweezers.
When we think of generating savings, many of us automatically think of simply paying less for goods and services: whether we’re talking about tenders, volume aggregation or minimising contract leakage, this tried and tested method of using spending power to beat down prices has delivered significant savings over the years.
In 2015, Grosvenor collaborated with PASA to survey hundreds of top procurement professionals in Australasia. Why? Because we wanted to identify the most effective savings tactics in use, and understand who was using them to the best effect. What we discovered might surprise you.
Often the answer to why your existing system is not firing from all cylinders can be found in our previous article. It’s likely that your implementation project skipped one of those lessons-learnt and you have consequently ended up in a situation where the uptake of your system is poor, end users complain about the usability, manual workarounds are in place, suppliers are unhappy and most of the benefits from your business case have gone out the window.
Ask yourself these 5 questions if you’re thinking about getting a Contingent Workforce Management solution: 1. Are you paying the same rate for the same type of employee across the whole business?, 2. Do you know what technology solutions the market offers?, 3. …
Ask yourself these 5 questions if you’re thinking about getting a procurement system: 1. Do you know the current procurement technology market and capabilities?, 2. Are your procurement processes fit for purpose and ready to be supported by a system?, 3. …
Ask yourself these 5 questions if you have a Contingent Workforce Management system: 1. Are your processes now faster and more efficient? All of them?, 2. Is everyone happy with the system and consistently using it?, 3. …
Whether you are looking to get more out of your projects, are interested in collaboration or would like to talk about joining the Grosvenor team, please get in touch.
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