Art of Procurement

When Kristine Morton's was first introduced to the flawed incentive structures plaguing much of corporate procurement, she said, “That all sounds stupid."  Her blunt reaction reveals something profound: it is possible to build a procurement career without ever encountering the dysfunctional systems that dominate so many large organizations.

In this episode of "Buy: The Way...To Purposeful Procurement," Kri...

“ProcureTech100 is the voice of the user. It's the voice of the customer. We want the perspective of those who are using these solutions every day, who have done proof of concepts, and who have seen the ROI.” - Philip Ideson, Co-Founder and Managing Director at Art of Procurement

Today’s procurement leaders are surrounded by tech innovation and disruption, but separating real value from empty hype is more ...

"Business partnering is what sets apart good procurement teams from great procurement teams, especially in indirect procurement... Those who are good at partnering with the business, they actually are able to excel." - Sasha Sergeev, Director of Technical & Corporate Procurement, Nova Chemicals

Procurement must evolve beyond traditional cost-focused metrics to become true business partners that drive organ...

“Savings is completely self-invented and pointless because it's separated from the real P&L."

This assessment from Bayer Chief Procureme...

"I believe if you can define it, you can source it. And if you can source it, you can auction it." - Adam Collins, Head of Sales, Esker

Procurement teams are navigating unprecedented global disruptions, from tariffs and geopolitical tensions to supply chain instabilities that refuse to settle. 

What if these chaotic conditions actually present procurement's greatest opportunity to demonstrate ...

There is no template for transformation. You have to build transformation for the organization that you're in. Go and learn as much as you can about the organization and then pivot where you need to.” 
- Tanya Roach, Director of Procurement, Federated Co-operatives Limited

Building procurement from scratch is never easy… let alone within a 90-year-old organization, during a pandemic, and with business dema...

Halfway through their journey toward purposeful procurement, the co-hosts confront a fundamental question: if procurement drives value in so many ways beyond cost savings, why do incentive structures ignore virtually everything else?

In this episode of "Buy: The Way...To Purposeful Procurement," Philip Ideson, Rich Ham, and Kelly Barner discuss insights from their recent conversations with Martin Chilcott ...

“Deglobalization is a nice soundbite, but the reality is, we need more focus on risk management and mitigation.” – Philip Ideson, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Art of Procurement

Deglobalization is a hot topic right now, but behind the big headlines and boardroom buzzwords, real change is proving to be slow, complicated, and deeply influenced by geopolitics and regulation. 

Are companies r...

"I think we have hit a tipping point where procurement has become a pretty complicated practice. There's so many options and choices and optimizations with concepts that are just so alien to the typical user." - Jason Kim, Senior Director of Product Management, Coupa

The procurement technology landscape demands solutions that work for both power users and occasional requesters, yet many organizations strug...

“Businesses are wasting more money than they're making.”

This stark assessment from serial entrepreneur Paul Polizzotto frames a provocative question: what if procurement's greatest untapped opportunity lies not in negotiating better prices, but in redirecting the millions corporations already squander on ineffective sales and marketing spend?

In this episode of "Buy: The Way...To Purposeful Procurement,"...

“You really have to intimately understand what the organization needs out of you, and that happens through good discourse, good conversation, good communication.”
- Jack Skerry, Vice President of Supply Chain, Moosehead Breweries

Transforming procurement performance demands more than technical expertise. 

Senior leaders know that without strong communication skills like active listening, trans...

“It’s not going to take much to push us back into a shortage market where demand would exceed supply.” - Graham Scott, Vice President, Global Procurement at Jabil

Semiconductor volatility is grabbing headlines again, but what’s really happening beneath the surface for organizations buying and managing critical components?

Graham Scott, Vice President of Global Procurement at Jabil, knows this ...

Between annual targets and cost-focused KPIs, procurement leaders find themselves in an impossible bind when it comes to decarbonization: they know sustainability matters, yet the very incentive structures designed to reward their performance actively undermine their decarbonization efforts. 

In this episode, co-hosts Rich Ham and Philip Ideson speak with Martin Chilcott, Founder and CEO of 2 Degrees Limit...

“My number one rule for being a professional procurement person is to be fair and consistent. You've got to give every supplier the same opportunity, the same amount of time, and the same pieces of information, so you've got a level playing field.” - Michael Bertalli

Today's procurement teams must deliver value through strong relationships and a reputation for professionalism that extends far beyond cost s...