ENGAGEMENT SUMMARY OF INSIGHTS
2023 GLOBAL SRM RESEARCH REPORT
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Key statistics
of companies report that operational stakeholders support their supplier management. 79% 54% of Leaders have active support from operational stakeholders – more than twice that of Fast Followers. 55% of organisations gather supplier feedback via ad hoc conversations.
“It’s clear that suppliers are genuinely hungry for more structured and collaborative management programmes.”
How engaged and supportive of supplier management are senior stakeholders? Leaders Fast Followers Followers Strong active engagement & support 54% 25% 11% Somewhat engaging & supportive 41% 55% 51% Neutral 6% 18% 22% Lack engagement & support 0% 2% 15% Strongly lack engagement & support 1% Critical and strategic suppliers It is impossible for a supplier management programme to work without suppliers’ active participation and engagement. This dimension is often overlooked when developing stakeholder maps and engagement plans. From the feedback we have 0% 0% received when conducting Voice of the Supplier studies on behalf of clients, it’s clear that suppliers are genuinely hungry for more structured and collaborative management programmes, and rather than resist, they will be enthusiastic participants. This perception is supported by evidence from this year’s research, where over 83% of companies report good levels of engagement from suppliers, an increase in both 2021 and 2022. This level of support is a key attribute for the supplier management programme being deployed by Leaders, where 83% report that suppliers are strongly supportive and engaged.
How supportive and engaged with supplier management are strategic and critical suppliers? Leaders Fast Followers Followers Strong active engagement & support 83% 58% 28% Somewhat engaging & supportive 15% 36% 49% Neutral 2% 5% 18% Lack engagement & support 0% 1% 4% Strongly lack engagement & support
That is to make the supplier management value proposition so compelling that it becomes a business priority. Perhaps to be expected, operational stakeholders are also distracted by other business priorities and have insufficient awareness of the supplier management value proposition. However, they would also appear to question the time it takes to implement and deliver benefits. Competing with other business priorities is a challenge for critical and strategic suppliers. It is how they perceive their customers that is worth noting. 32% of companies report that historical issues that have impacted the relationship are a factor. They also raise the point that they may not be the supplier’s customer of choice and, therefore, will not be considered critical or strategic to the supplier.
How engaged and supportive of supplier management are senior stakeholders? Leaders Fast Followers Followers Strong active engagement & support 69% 45% 19% Somewhat engaging & supportive 31% 51% 50% Neutral 0% 1% 16% Lack engagement & support 0% 2% 11% Strongly lack engagement & support
While the above is encouraging, it is clear that challenges remain, and good levels of engagement and support from stakeholders cannot be taken for granted. More needs to be done across all stakeholder groups to promote the business benefit of supplier management as it continues to compete with other business priorities. The awareness of the supplier management value proposition also needs to be improved, as this is seen as a challenge across all stakeholder groups. Responses on supplier engagement reveal an approach that is often ad hoc and lacking in structure. While any communication is beneficial, the effort to create a more structured dialogue with actionable outcomes needs to be encouraged. Senior stakeholder support During the events of the last three years, we have seen executive teams gain much more exposure to supplier and supply chain management. This engagement has been maintained, with 78% of companies reporting senior stakeholders supporting supplier management programmes. We also see a shift to more active support and engagement, reported by over 30% of companies. There is a clear lesson to be learned by Followers who want their supplier management programme to gain more traction. They need to turn around the nearly 80% of their senior stakeholders that remain neutral or in opposition to developing closer and better-managed relationships with suppliers.
0% 0%
1%
While there will always be competing business priorities, addressing the second challenge can potentially overcome this challenge. That is to make the supplier management value proposition so compelling that it becomes a business priority.
0% 0%
Engagement remains amongst the stronger performing pillars overall, with good levels of support reported from the three main stakeholder groups: senior stakeholders, operational stakeholders and critical and strategic suppliers. Senior stakeholders continue to be more engaged and supportive of supplier management following the supply chain shocks of the last three years, with continued support evident from operational stakeholders and critical and strategic suppliers. However, as expected, leaders have the best support and engagement, particularly with their suppliers.
4% Operational stakeholders
While supplier management is most often driven by Procurement, it also requires strong internal business engagement. Our operational engagement question focuses on the level of engagement and support from operational stakeholders who form part of the wider supplier management team. While overall engagement seems good, it should be noted that in this case, Leaders are almost twice as likely to have strong and active engagement with operational stakeholders compared to Fast Followers. This probably indicates less mature supplier management programmes being more focused on procurement relationships than the wider business.
Challenges that impact supplier management support among senior stakeholders? (All respondents) 68% Other business priorities
Challenges While the level of support and engagement from all groups of stakeholders has improved in recent years, there can be no doubt that challenges remain. To analyse the feedback, we have addressed the challenges experienced by each of the groups we examined regarding support and engagement. For senior stakeholders, the primary challenges are overwhelmingly the influence of other business priorities, as reported by 68% of respondents and a lack of sufficient awareness of the supplier management value proposition. While there will always be competing business priorities, addressing the second challenge can potentially overcome this challenge.
Insufficient awareness of the value proposition/business case Procurement and supply chain is not high enough on the corporate agenda They see it as slow to implement and deliver benefits
49%
31%
24%
18% Operational Colleagues 10% No challenges
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