2021 Deloitte CPO Study has arrived!

Deloitte’s long awaited 2021 Chief Procurement Officer Study (titled “Agility: The antidote to complexity”) has come out, and subjectively speaking, I think it’s awesome. OK, full disclosure here: I’m one of the study architects and authors. I did a deeper summary on the report over at Spend Matters, but if you want a ‘top of the waves’ view, here’s a preview of what’s in it and some takeaways…

Report highlights:

• 9 CPO priorities for coming 12 months
• Putting precision to topic of agility, and an agility index with almost a dozen agility factors
• 7 dimensions of performance (digital transformation jumped 20%), which is really 22 because performance-to-plan on 9 dimensions and early stakeholder influence on 7 dimensions. It’s truly a “balanced scorecard” of performance… at least without a full fee-based benchmark 
• Top 10 risk scenarios CPOs are worried about
• 8 most implemented form of analytics
• Top 6 CSR criteria in terms of performance
• Level of n-tier supply chain intelligence and linkages into SRM process and sourcing process
• Top 9 barriers to digital procurement transformation (data quality is still #1 issue)
• Four “faces”/roles of CPOs and where they and their teams are spending their time now and in the future
• Perception of CPOs of the actual role of procurement, including “a way to change the
• world by reshaping global supply chains”
• 26 recommendations / actions to support five mega recommendations related to agility

Report insights:

• Agility is more than just about speed, but includes customer-centricity, intelligence, and a nimble operating model (talent, tech, org, 3rd parties, etc.)
• CSR had the highest jump this year in priority, High performers 3X more likely than their peers to be formally measured on it
• Influence dropped, except in supply chain where it jumped 48%
• 2021-2020 looks like SRM might finally cross the chasm based on numerous data points in the study that are spelled out
• Procurement has a transformation flywheel just like Amazon - and an agile development approaches does help spin it up
• Standardization is a key enabler of agility, but doesn’t mean one-size-fits-all processes or systems
• Legacy 3rd party operating models are on the way out
• “Next gen” technology like advanced analytics and RPA are massively more implemented at the truly advanced firms, but haven’t really hit the bell curve of organizations
• The best firms implement a higher percentage of their budgets on technology
• You’re wasting your time on the best-of-breed vs. suite/ERP argument because a blended strategy seems to be the path forward (the report explains more on this)

OK, I’ll leave it here. For my deeper summary, check it out here (https://spendmatters.com/2021/04/26/deloitte-launches-its-2021-cpo-report-its-good-very-good/, but for the full Monty, download the full report from Deloitte's site here!