• Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Supplier Directory
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Logout
  • My Profile

  • CORONAVIRUS
  • LOGISTICS
    • Air Cargo
    • All Logistics
    • Express/Small Shipments
    • Facility Location Planning
    • Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage
    • Global Gateways
    • Global Logistics
    • Last Mile Delivery
    • Logistics Outsourcing
    • LTL/Truckload Services
    • Ocean Transportation
    • Rail & Intermodal
    • Reverse Logistics
    • Service Parts Management
    • Transportation & Distribution
  • TECHNOLOGY
    • All Technology
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud & On-Demand Systems
    • Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)
    • ERP & Enterprise Systems
    • Forecasting & Demand Planning
    • Global Trade Management
    • Inventory Planning/ Optimization
    • Product Lifecycle Management
    • Sales & Operations Planning
    • SC Finance & Revenue Management
    • SC Planning & Optimization
    • Sourcing/Procurement/SRM
    • Supply Chain Visibility
    • Transportation Management
  • GENERAL SCM
    • Business Strategy Alignment
    • Education & Professional Development
    • Global Supply Chain Management
    • Global Trade & Economics
    • HR & Labor Management
    • Quality & Metrics
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • SC Security & Risk Mgmt
    • Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility
  • WAREHOUSING
    • All Warehouse Services
    • Conveyors & Sortation
    • Lift Trucks & AGVs
    • Order Fulfillment
    • Packaging
    • RFID, Barcode, Mobility & Voice
    • Robotics
    • Warehouse Management Systems
  • INDUSTRIES
    • Aerospace & Defense
    • Apparel
    • Automotive
    • Chemicals & Energy
    • Consumer Packaged Goods
    • E-Commerce/Omni-Channel
    • Food & Beverage
    • Healthcare
    • High-Tech/Electronics
    • Industrial Manufacturing
    • Pharmaceutical/Biotech
    • Retail
  • REGIONS
    • Asia Pacific
    • Canada
    • China
    • Europe
    • Latin America
    • Middle East/Africa
    • North America
  • THINK TANK
  • PODCASTS
  • VIDEOS
  • WHITEPAPERS
Home » Want to Achieve Compliance? Make it Easy and Worthwhile for the End User

Want to Achieve Compliance? Make it Easy and Worthwhile for the End User

March 15, 2013
SupplyChainBrain

It is human nature to focus on the "exciting" part of the job. For the sourcing and procurement professional, it's usually the front end of the process"”finding opportunities for savings, creating and executing winning sourcing strategies, conducting skillful contract negotiations, and closing a deal designed to save the company millions of dollars. The back end of the process"”getting the people in the organization who are making purchasing decisions to actually buy products and services from that hard-won contract"”is not necessarily the sourcing and procurement person's favorite part of the job.

This is where the nature of the system and buying process given to the end user can make a material difference. Most people hate non-value-add administrative work (this author included). That is one of the reasons that it is so hard to get salespeople to actually use salesforce automation systems. They will only do so if they see a material benefit"”like getting more leads and closing more deals"”and if the system fits intuitively and effortlessly into their daily workflow and the actual work as they perform it. If it is seen as being an extra step needed before or after the actual work is done, or if they need to go to a training class to figure it all out, then there is much more likely to be "rebellion in the ranks" against using that tool and process.

The same is true of the tools given to business users making purchasing decisions and/or approvals. The system and process is much more likely to be used if it is intuitive (think Amazon.com) and does an excellent job at helping the user quickly and easily find the products and services that they are actually looking for. It should require no training and just be fast and simple to use. That may be the most powerful weapon that the sourcing group has to increase rates of compliance and on-contract purchases.

The e-procurement solution market is a mature segment. Yet newer entrants, such as Coupa, have been able to gain significant market share in part by making the process easier for the end business user. That should be a lesson, not just to sourcing and procurement solution vendors, but to all enterprise solution vendors.

The Outlook

As a mature segment, expect e-procurement to maintain steady growth in 2013. But that growth will not be spread evenly among the vendors. We could also see some continued consolidation in the market this year.


Keywords: sourcing solutions, supply chain management, supply chain management IT, supply chain solutions, spend management

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED VIDEOS

Technology Sourcing/Procurement/SRM Business Strategy Alignment Global Supply Chain Management
KEYWORDS Business Strategy Alignment Global Supply Chain Management Sourcing Solutions Sourcing/Procurement/SCM spend management Supply Chain Analysis & Consulting Supply Chain Management supply chain management IT supply chain solutions Technology
  • Related Articles

    It's Easy to Build an 'Online Community.' It's Difficult to Make It Work.

    Enterprise Zones May Make It Worthwhile to Consider Locating Business in California

    Keep This in Mind: It's Always About the End User

SupplyChainBrain

100 Great Supply Chain Partners Issue 2009

More from this author

Wake up to Coronavirus Updates and the latest Supply Chain News!

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter

Timely, incisive articles delivered directly to your inbox.

Popular Stories

  • Coronavirus-watch-Armada

    Virus Update: Pfizer Plant Cited for Quality Issues; Vaccine Maker Warns of Raw Materials Shortage

    Coronavirus
  • China

    China’s Tech Revolution Aims to Cut Dependence on West

    Technology
  • Walmart

    Walmart Embraces a Local Fulfillment Model for Grocery

    Logistics
  • Shipping Logjam

    U.S. Retailers See Millions in Sales Delays Amid Shipping Logjam

    Coronavirus
  • How Can E-Commerce Retailers Compete?

    Smaller E-Tailers Weigh Pros and Cons of Fulfillment by Amazon

    Logistics

Digital Edition

Scb feb 2021 lg

2021 Supply Chain Management Resource Guide

VIEW THE LATEST ISSUE

Case Studies

  • Remote Implementation: A Dose of the Right Medicine for B2B Pharmacy

  • LSP Saves Customer $1.5 Million a Year With MPO Global Inbound Management

  • Auto Supplier Wows Key Client Using riskmethods Supply Chain Savvy

  • Integrating Shipping and Compliance Saves Conglomerate Millions

  • How a Consumer Goods Giant Upped Its On-Time Delivery Performance

Visit Our Sponsors

6 River Systems ArcBest Armada
aThingz BluJay Burris Logistics
DSC Logistics DCSA (Digital Container Shipping Association) DHL Resilience360
Genpact Geodis GEP
GreyOrange Honeywell Intelligrated Infor
Inmar Kibo Commerce Logility
Magnitude Software MPO Old Dominion
Oliver Wight OpenSky Paccurate
Ports America Purolator QAD Precision
Red Classic Riskmethods Snapfulfil
TGW Systems Tradepoint Atlantic Transportation Insights
Watson Land Company Westfalia Technologies Workjam
Yang Ming    
  • More From SCB
    • Featured Content
    • Video Library
    • Think Tank Blog
    • SupplyChainBrain Podcast
    • Whitepapers
    • Webinars
  • Digital Offerings
    • Digital Issue
    • Subscribe
    • Manage Your Subscription
    • Newsletters
  • Resources
    • Events Calendar
    • SCB's Great Supply Chain Partners
    • Supplier Directory
    • Case Study Showcase
    • Supply Chain Innovation Awards
    • 100 Great Partners Form
  • SCB Corporate
    • Advertise on SCB.COM
    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
    • Data Sharing Opt-Out

All content copyright ©2021 Keller International Publishing Corp All rights reserved. No reproduction, transmission or display is permitted without the written permissions of Keller International Publishing Corp

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing