Blog post -

What is Procurement, really?

About a month ago a group of friends and I decided to have an adventurous outing, and get away from the city life of Stockholm, Sweden.

After compiling a list of things we could do, we decided to go horseback riding.

We found a lovely woman named Lulu that lived in Fagersta, Sweden who owns about 20 Icelandic horses, and takes tourist groups on day-trips to ride. Being that I was a newcomer to the world of horseback riding, and am a generally interested person, I asked Lulu a lot of questions about Icelandic horses.

Because Icelandic horses are known to be a rather unique species of horse, I had lot of questions. Lulu explained to me her love for Icelandic horses, and how their physical build, performance, personality, trot-style and mentality differed from other species of horses. I thought to myself, ‘I will never put a horse into a generic box of ‘horse’ ever again.’

Being that I was new to the life of being a Swedish cowboy, I accepted my limited knowledge of horses, moved on with newly-gained insights, and came back to work at Kodiak Rating’s offices in Stockholm the next day.

That Monday, I walked in the front door and wrote a note in my phone immediately. It read:

What is procurement, really?

I’m just now revisiting this concept, and I guess the thought originally sprouted from my ignorance regarding types of horses, which may seem a bit odd. With all oddities aside, I work with procurement professionals, work in an organization that services procurement professionals, market a digital procurement platform, but had I ever really challenged my knowledge of procurement?

No is the answer, but I hope to do so now.

READ THE FULL BLOG POST HERE

Related links

Topics

  • Computers, computer technology, software

Categories

  • supply chain management
  • procurement
  • business
  • what is procurement

Contacts

Sam Jenks

Press contact Communications Lead Communications and Marketing 0703644132

Related content

Supplier Relationship Management: Where's the ROI for your Business?

SRM is a discipline built for leveraging the relationships between buyer, and supplier, to build value for an organization’s top-line value while cutting bottom line costs.

User-Enabled Procurement: An Age of Smarter Solutions.

We’ve entered an age of technological independence, and API-driven innovation, breeding procurement solutions that are more agile, scalable, integrate-able and customizable than ever before. This is the age of smarter solutions. This is the age of User-Enabled Procurement

The Three Pillars of Digital Procurement

​Procurement professionals have the same question looming over their head on a daily basis: “How do you plan on dealing with digitalization?” The truth of the matter is, every organization needs to take into account it’s own reality, regardless of where technology is/where it’s going.

What is Change Management's role in the Digital Transformation of SCM?

Implementing change and managing change are no easy task, and for that very reason change requires infrastructure, processes and clearly defined actions.

Blockchain: The Technology Reshaping Supply Chain Management

Growing global complexity in supply chain management has forced organizations to look towards technology as their silver bullet; serving as the missing link between people (supply chain actors) and the ability to collaborate at scale.

6 Lessons every Procurement Team can learn from Ikea's IWAY

IWAY, the ‘Ikea way of purchasing’, Ikea’s code of conduct (CoC) for suppliers was introduced to ensure that the drastic changes the organization was experiencing wouldn’t jeopardize key supplier relationships. Furthermore, the guidelines spelled out in IWAY established a new normal for the future of Ikea’s requirements on suppliers.