A recent article in Global Services had an interesting article on the roles sourcing managers play in today’s global sourcing organizations. Whereas traditional managers were more focussed on:
- setting directions and goals,
- communicating policies,
- motivating the team,
- monitoring and analyzing progress,
- rewarding and punishing, and
- reporting up the chain;
today’s global sourcing managers need to focus on:
- a goal-orientation,
that navigates the political currents and allows sourcing relationships to thrive, - process & domain expertise,
that is backed up with hands-on operational experience, - entrepreneurialism,
that perceives risk, understands the different functional areas, and builds cross-functional teams to help mitigate that risk, - global strategy,
that takes into account cultural nuances, regulatory requirements around the globe, and the macro-economic factors that impact the supply chain, - integrity,
that imparts credibility inside and outside of the organization, - negotiations,
that lead to win-win relationships for long term success, - and the future,
that allows the sourcing manager to adapt and respond to the dynamically changing global environment.
This is because, as outlined in the article, the responsibilities of today’s global sourcing manager transcend different functional areas beyond sourcing, procurement, logistics, and supply management, which include:
- governance methodology
- forecasting & resource deployment
- contract review & change management
- technology environment & improvement
- reward and recognition programs
- transition management
- production planning
- reporting & communication
- disaster recovery & business continuity
- financial performance
And to wear all of these hats, today’s sourcing managers have to be:
- flexible,
- contract oriented, and
- governance aware.