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INFORMATION AND TECHNOLOGY Technology as a key enabler for SRM remains a concern. Dissatisfaction levels have increased, with the proportion of respondents reporting that IT supports SRM ‘very poorly’ increasing from 4% in 2012 to 20% in 2013. The use of IT systems, software or applications to support SRM has not increased from the low level reported in 2011. For those companies making use of existing IT, the majority report it to be ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’ in meeting the needs of SRM. The criticisms have remained broadly the same over this period also. These are focused on a lack of required functionality, information having to be gathered from different systems, and no access to systems for stakeholders or suppliers. From an industry sector perspective, FMCG companies appear to be making most use of IT, with interestingly the IT / high tech sector making the least use. In the absence of effective IT solutions, the majority of organisations are still relying on the use of shared drives and tools such as SharePoint to store and share information. In terms of scorecards and reporting, most respondents are currently using Excel spreadsheets. RELATIONSHIP DEVELOPMENT AND CULTURE Important relationship attributes are increasingly understood and being developed, but truly innovative relationships are rare. Successful relationships are characterised as being open and transparent, innovative, strategically and culturally aligned, trusting, collaborative, and behaviourally mature. Fundamental to openness and transparency is the willingness to share information. The type of information being most commonly shared is operational. There is also a notice- able reduction in the proportion of buy side respondents sharing more strategic information as compared to 2012. Innovation is still a real dichotomy. It is consistently identified as one of the most impor- tant elements of the SRM value proposition. However, difficulties at the implementation stage remain. This view of slow progress in making relationships truly innovative is broadly confirmed by the sell side, although three quarters of them say that being part of an SRM programme has helped them present innovative ideas. For relationships to function well, it’s important that sufficient strategic and cultural alignment is achieved. Less than one in five buy side companies are using a 360 degree relationship assessment tool to baseline and develop more strategic and cultural alignment. Trust is identified by both the buy and the sell side as the most important attribute in a relationship, and the most important thing to achieve SRM success and real business benefit. Collaboration has become almost the watchword of SRM. Around 40% of buy side companies report that they collaborate with suppliers on a regular basis. Half of these claim it is ‘business as usual’.
The full report contains detailed findings and analysis on all of these executive sum- mary highlights. Please see page 149 for a full set of conclusions and related calls to action.
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