Focus on Strategic Supplier Relationships and Risk Management

The manner in which supply chains became a mainstream, daily topic in the news during the COVID-19 pandemic reinforced the criticality of managing both supplier relationships and risk. The procurement team should manage suppliers and risk on a spectrum aligned with organizational strategy. These are the highest priority issues for procurement to handle with analytical maturity and an eye on long-term stability.

From APQC’s Sourcing and Procurement Blueprint for Success, this article details the importance of ensuring both supplier relationship management and risk management are driven by organizational strategy. These findings are supported by APQC’s Open Standards Benchmarking results and real-world examples from top performers.