CPO Crunch: Keep calm and carry on

There are so many powerful and disruptive forces in play globally in the modern era that the volume of alerts, red flags and supply chain issues can soon become dizzying. CPOs are in the eye of the storm, managing disruption after disruption – from extreme weather to port strikes to out-and-out war. And these past two weeks have had all of these and more.

Just as the intensity of the Middle East crisis was dialled up with Israel’s ground invasion of Lebanon and Iran’s subsequent missile attack on Israel, US dockworkers walked out at 14 major ports across the east and Gulf coasts.

Not long before, Hurricane Helene had wreaked havoc across Florida and Georgia, and the cleanup operation had only just got started when Hurricane Milton appeared on the horizon to compound the misery for Floridians.

Think about it too much and it’s likely to send those who must deal with such scenarios into a stress-induced frenzy. So, firing up Zoom to host a call with the CPO community on managing these disruptive forces, I feared the worst.

Would anyone show up? Would those who did be gibbering wrecks, unable to settle into the call and be desperate for some kind of guidance for how to get through the barrage of supply blockages and disruptions?

Well… far from it. Instead, I opened the call to a group of around 20 calm and thoughtful CPOs who were navigating this challenging period with grace. The Middle East crisis, while extremely difficult to watch from a humanitarian perspective, was presenting few operational challenges. Shipping had already been rerouted, staff who were at risk had been relocated to safety, and planning had been put in place to overcome any future issues.

While there were questions and concerns about what – if any – impact the crisis might have on global oil markets, everyone on the call was confident with the systems and processes they had implemented to cope with the disruption we continue to live through.

If anything, it was a striking conversation for the lack of drama. While chaos was descending in various forms across multiple regions, procurement chiefs were confident and in control. Perhaps more importantly and tellingly, their boards and leadership teams were showing confidence in their functions' capabilities.

It’s worth taking a moment to reflect on just how impressive this is, and how much procurement has learned, adapted and adopted since the first hints of a global pandemic appeared on the horizon almost five years ago.

Global business complexity has increased and disruptive forces are everywhere, but CPOs and their teams have become indispensable.

A socially responsible social occasion

Sitting down for dinner at the House of Lords is not usual practice for a Thursday evening, but it’s exactly what I – and 19 CPOs – did last week. We were guests of Lord Victor Adebowale, a non-executive director of The Co-Operative Group, chair of Social Enterprise UK and a former CEO of homeless charity Centre Point.

It was an inspiring evening, which focused on how procurement teams have the opportunity to drive positive social progress through their supply chains. Our CEO Nandini Basuthakur, who also joined the discussion, has produced a short summary on LinkedIn.