STATE OF FLUX
2014 GLOBAL SRM RESEARCH REPORT
FOREWORD 1
TTTTTTTU FOREWORD
ALAN DAY
On 9 th February this year we celebrated our tenth birthday. So firstly, a big thank you to all of you who have worked with us over the years; it has been an exhilarating time and great fun working to solve business challenges together.
Chairman and Founder, State of Flux
This year’s report is entitled ‘The Journey to Customer of Choice’. We choose this title in recognition of the need for companies to develop a better understanding and awareness of the importance of being a good customer. We first highlighted the changing market dynamic that was the emergence of customer of choice back in 2010, and have worked since then to define it and map the path to achieving it. The challenge to become a customer of choice for your most important suppliers joins those around defining and capturing SRM value; getting stakeholders engaged and supportive; implementing good governance; developing the skills of our people; harnessing technology; and developing more mutually beneficial relationships. I sincerely hope that the content of this report will go some way to helping you address these challenges. So let me thank you again for your support over the last ten years and I hope you enjoy reading our 2014 global SRM report, ‘The Journey to Customer of Choice’. I hope you get as much from it this year as your generous feedback suggests you have in previous years.
For six of our ten years, the annual global research into SRM has been an integral part of our annual cycle. It has made an invaluable contribution to our ability to bring insight and order to the world of SRM, and we hope also to its recognition and development as a key business discipline. State of Flux reaching the ten year milestone was cause for reflection on what’s changed in the industry, and what still needs to be done. As a profession, we have seen procurement grow in so many areas. Having been on a journey from a back office function responsible for buying and expediting, procurement is increasingly viewed as a strategic partner to suppliers and business stakeholders. Its remit now more generally extends to a role in business strategy and planning. This includes category management and strategic sourcing, and is extended to owning the process for, and in many cases managing key supplier relationships. However, let’s not forget that for over 30% of those responding to our survey, this latter role is also being carried out by the wider business.
Click here to join the ‘SRM research and best practice’ LinkedIn group, supported by State of Flux, to continue the SRM discussion.
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