procurement approaches, highlighted by both the low use of eSourcing and the perception among around half of respondents that eSourcing is not an appropriate way to buy products and services. This reflects the low awareness and education on eSourcing that was reported as the main challenge in adopting it. On the operational side of Contract Management , we noted again a low adoption of processes and automation in managing third-party contracts during their lifecycle. The main challenges include high levels of off-contract and “maverick” spend, as well as long contracting cycles. Lastly, the majority of organisations appear to have put in place Procurement-to-Pay Management processes and systems. Adoption of technology To date, technology has been used to automate the operational aspects of procurement. There has been a high adoption of inventory management and procurement-to-pay systems, which reflects the necessity of ERP systems in a modern organisation. Where organisations are lagging is in the use of tools that enable them to support more robust processes to manage their contracts, risks and suppliers. However, this is where technology adoption is heading. The main technology solutions that Greek organisations will be looking at using in the next couple of years include supplier performance management and contract management. Procurement in the economic crisis The challenges that Greek organisations face during the economic crisis are not new to procurement professionals, even if the size and scale of those challenges appear bigger and more daunting than in the past. The main challenges include pressure for cost savings, restricted cash flow, low budgets and increased risk in the supply chain. The majority of survey respondents (63%) believe that better control and analysis of spend are essential in overcoming the current challenges. However, about six out of 10 organisations do not believe that cost-saving initiatives, more robust procurement processes, training, risk management and adoption of technology can help them in the management of the economic crisis. This finding implies that procurement professionals have either lost faith in management practices that ought to help them in overcoming the crisis or they have not been convinced of the value and benefits of applying these practices in the first place.
from our post-survey workshops and our experience in working with global organisations on contract management projects have left us with doubts about the effectiveness of such initiatives (which appear, on the surface, to be better on average than those of global organisations we work with). Our post-survey discussions revealed some opportunities around leveraging third-party contracts to secure savings or mitigate risks that are not currently being addressed by Greek organisations. An area that stood out from the survey results is Risk Management. There are indications that risk management has started to gain prominence, although little action has so far been taken to put risk management processes into practice. There are certainly some pockets of good risk management activity among some of the organisations in our survey, including multi-sourcing, increased safety stocks and business continuity plans. However, little reference was made to policies on risk management, risk reporting, and collaboration with suppliers to jointly mitigate risks in the supply chain. Only 16% of organisations communicate their risk-related considerations to their suppliers. Supplier Management Whereas only a small percentage of the survey population reported formal supplier management processes, there is an understanding that not all suppliers are equal and each supplier segment requires different management practices. The majority of organisations segment their suppliers into different classes and revise the segmentation on a regular basis. The most frequent supplier management activity is sharing information such as demand and forecast data, market information and performance data. We have also noted an increase in organisations engaging their suppliers in collaborative efforts on cost savings and innovation, but not risk management. Little information is currently shared on strategic plans, strategic alignment and relationship strategy, while less than 10% request feedback from their suppliers regarding their performance (e.g. through “Voice of the Supplier” surveys) or conduct 360-degree (two-way) assessments with their suppliers.
Buying Management Sourcing Management is the area where all
organisations appear to have standard processes in place. But these do not always include cross- functional collaboration, which is where procurement can play a facilitating role. There appear to be some misconceptions about electronic
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