In today’s world, organisations are having to adapt to the ever-changing digital landscape, with more of them turning to outsourcing their key business operations. This can include everything from core IT services, to HR, marketing and customer service.

Large companies with operations in the European Union could start being held responsible for environmental violations or human rights abuses committed by the business and their supply chains under a new law proposed in late February by the European Commission.

Bringing sustainability to procurement is one of the most important priorities for most companies and has been a popular topic around supply chain leaders, especially when it comes to identifying how to start and where to apply good sustainable procurement practices that will bring results and be maintained as time goes by.

Much is said about how good supplier data can help procurement make better decisions, negotiate more favourable pricing, and help avoid possible risks and disruptions in the supply chain, but how does bad supplier data affect the supply chain?

During the months of May and June 2021, Procurious and Ivalua surveyed over 470 procurement and supply chain professionals in order to assess the maturity levels of sustainability across multiple supply chains, what impact organisations are driving, and how sustainability can be improved by procurement teams.

Most procurement professionals are aware that tail spend has the potential to hold a lot of hidden value but until it can be managed effectively, extracting that value is difficult. What may also hamper the task of bringing maverick spend to heal, is a failure to understand where the responsibility to do so lies.

For many companies, managing tail spend is a big challenge - throw small teams who are seperated geographically into the mix and the challenge may seem too big to tackle.

Spare a thought for Rishi Sunak. Having set out spending plans amid 11.3% fall in GDP, (the biggest contraction in 300 years) he Government’s Spending Review last month saw the Chancellor forced to layout in stark economic terms, the impact of the past 12 months. 

‘You need it? You buy it’ - if only procurement was so simple. The reality is, procuring goods - or services - sparks a chain reaction between different departments. The biggest challenge for businesses is to ensure that the process journey runs smoothly and compliantly. So where to start?