Buzzwords: The Destruction of Procurement Technology.

Our world is fast-paced, digitalized and our reach is — consequently — greater than ever before.

Publishing an article on a blog makes your content accessible to over 4 Billion people. More than 50% of the world’s population is plugged into the most powerful social network in the existence of humankind.

With greater reach comes greater volume and with volume comes a responsibility. Anyone can partake in the discussion. Anyone can have an opinion. Anyone can be an expert.

As members and consumers of the Internet’s database, we have a responsibility to publish and read content from trusted sources and ignore the buzz. But, is it even possible?

Because search engines rank articles of information based upon various parameters — one of the most powerful being keywords — there is an incentive to jam-packing a piece of content with buzzwords. Search engines publish which search words are most popular in their databases. This makes for a lot of ambiguous content because publications can choose to jump on trending keyword waves and create click bait. In the present day, there are a whole lot of buzzwords and not a lot of substance.

We’re all willing victims and participants of the buzzword phenomenon of our time.

I’m not going to act like this very post, itself, isn’t skillfully laced with keywords to optimize it’s search rankings. I’m not going to act like this isn’t an opinion-based piece, backed with light research. But, hopefully, my transparency will keep you interested to read past this substantially unsubstantial-introduction.

I’m a procurement fanatic. I’m a marketing lead at a procurement technology vendor. I’m a blogger. I’m a copywriter. And, I’m going to tell it like it is.

Buzzwords are the destruction of Procurement Technology.

The Buzzword Phenomenon: Why do we allow it to happen?

Conversation and communication (verbal and non-verbal) bring us together and connect us one another as human beings. The significance and weight of being a part of that conversation are where I believe buzzwords to originate.

Schutz’s Interpersonal ‘Needs Theory’ called Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation (FIRO) Theory, seeks to explain the reasons why individuals interact the way they do, and what our needs are in situations of interpersonal communication. The three needs that are discussed are as followed:

1. Control: A need to have a satisfactory relationship with respect to power and influence.

2. Inclusion: A need to be a part of something or a sense of belonging.

3. Affection: A need to be appreciated and confirmed within interactions (Schutz).

Though buzzwords are most often broadcasted within a linear model of communication, there is an interpersonal transaction of communication in mind. Writer and Reader.

Referencing back to Schutz’s FIRO theory, we can begin to theorize why the phenomenon of buzzwords has become so widely accepted. Utilizing buzzwords attracts attention as a conversation starter (control), allows one to partake in the conversation (inclusion) and typically receives good readership (affection).

Technology is currently one of the domains where buzzwords are thrown around rather liberally. In the case of procurement, a strong focus on digitalization and the implementation of technology has caused the use of a lot of buzzwords to arise.

Whilst the excitement is good to see, and innovative knowledge sharing can have a positive impact, there are a lot of buzzwords that have created unrealistic expectations and ambiguity within the procurement community.

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