Business Chief USA June 2019

DELOITTE
154
NATASCHA SCHIJVEN, PARTNER SUPPLY CHAIN & MANUFACTURING
OPERATIONS AT DELOITTE ‘DIVERSITY OF THOUGHT’
PROCUREMENT CHANGES
As industries become more competitive,
the way procurement is viewed is
indeed shifting, with businesses
understanding a greater focus on cost
management is needed in order to
succeed: “Focus is very much shifting
in the CFO space toward cost control.
The world is rapidly becoming more
competitive and there’s a lot of
disruption fueling mergers and
acquisitions. If you don’t get ahead
of that, you’re not going to be able
to monetize. You’ll miss the boat.
“Strategic procurement has always
been one of the best ways in which you
can rapidly control costs,” Schijven
continues. “We’re seeing a shift from
not having to worry about cost to that
being the principle concern – there is
less flying below the radar in high-margin
environments, so you need to get it
under control. The past decade or so
has seen the shift from procurement
being a back office, cost-cutting
function, to a function that truly delivers
value cross-functionally and increasingly
has a seat at the C-level table.”
As the function shifts however, there
will inevitably be those organizations
JUNE 2019