“There are not many functions, if any, other than procurement that sit in a position to both positively and negatively have such an impact on organizations, on strategy, on direction.” - Gordon Donovan

In an era of increasing uncertainty and existential angst over AI, Gordon Donovan has a refreshingly optimistic view of procurement’s future. In fact, he says, procurement might just very well save the world.

While this may be a hyperbolic statement, it’s not that far off the mark, as Gordon explains to Philip Ideson in this episode of Art of Procurement.

As Gordon sees it, procurement is one of the only functions that holds the power – or privilege – to directly impact almost every corner of the business, well beyond cost. As such, how procurement approaches things like relationship building, crisis management, volatility, risk assessment, digital disruption, and strategic planning will play a huge role in determining just how successful they are in ‘saving the world.’

In this episode, Philip and Gordon also discuss:

Redefining procurement as a risk function, critical to business continuity and supply chain visibility
Procurement’s role in driving global supply chain trends in reshoring, nearshoring, and “friend-shoring”
How establishing genuine trust with suppliers leads to bottom-line results for the business

Links:

753: Can Procurement Save the World? With Gordon Donovan