STATE OF FLUX
2014 GLOBAL SRM RESEARCH REPORT
Executive summary 5
6 LEADERS ARE GETTING MORE VALUE
CUSTOMER OF CHOICE
The concept of customer of choice has become more widely understood and leading SRM companies are increasingly reporting benefits consistent with that status. However, our research reveals that for most organisations, the realisation that they may not actually be a customer of choice for many of their key suppliers, is difficult to absorb and in some cases even more difficult to address. RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT IS INCREASINGLY THE FOCUS Defining exactly what SRMmeans for a company has long been a challenge. In many cases this can be attributed to confusion between SRM and supplier performance management (SPM). While an effective and holistic approach to supplier management is important, the failure to focus sufficiently on relationship management and development has been a missed opportunity for many companies. However, this year we have seen a significant increase in the number of companies reporting that the primary focus of their SRM programme is on managing key supplier relationships collaboratively to deliver more value.
The gap in benefits that leaders receive versus followers has grown over the 6 years we have studied SRM. Leaders and fast followers are more than twice as likely than followers to get 6% or more post contract benefits. Leaders are also more likely to receive preferential pricing and they are twice as likely to get access to innovation. Leaders work on and progress all 6 pillars, to achieve sustainable SRM value.
BUT BARRIERS TO ACHIEVE SRM LEADERSHIP REMAIN
Some areas of SRM are still a challenge. For example: a lack of people with requisite skills; budget and resource challenges; and uncertainty caused by changing business priorities. These barriers have been stubbornly consistent over the years and are again highlighted this year’s findings.
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