Charles Dominick of Next Level Purchasing and Soheila R. Lunney of Lunney Advisory Group recently released The Procurement Game Plan: Winning Strategies and Techniques for Supply Management Professionals. We’re going to do a fairly detailed review of this book over four to five posts, but to start, we’re simply going to cover the purchasing professional’s 10 commandments because they do a great job of covering the basic mindset a Procurement or Supply Management professional has to have if she is to expect a successful career.

The Purchasing Professional’s 10 Commandments

1. Thou shalt always make decisions in the best interest of thy employer.
   Good purchasing agents avoid any real, and even perceived, conflicts of interest.
2. Thous shalt always involve thy internal customers throughout the purchasing process.
   Good purchasing professionals never act alone.
3. Thou shalt never make price the only criterion in a purchasing decision.
   Good purchasing agents take quality, delivery, and other relevant criteria into consideration also.
4. Thou shalt measure thy performance and communicate thy performance to management.
   Good purchasing professionals know and show their value.
5. Thou shalt treat suppliers fairly.
   Good purchasing professionals don’t attempt to take advantage of suppliers’ mistakes nor trick them into accepting unfavourable terms.
6. Thou shalt embrace change and new technologies.
   Thou shalt not resist them.
7. Thou shalt negotiate with the understanding that there may someday need to be a close relationship with the supplier across the table.
   Thou shalt not burn thy bridges, especially before crossing them.
8. Thou shalt realize it is a global economy.
   Thou shalt never make assumptions that thou knoweth every supplier available.
9. Thou shalt acknowledge that thy manager’s job is to develop and implement a strategy for development.
   Therefore, thy shalt challenge thyself to solve problems independently rather than involve thy manager in tactical crises that can be reasonably resolved at your level.
10. Thou shalt commit to continuous improvement of thy skills.
    Thou shalt never let a year go by without learning new practices used by other purchasing professionals.
11. Thou shalt always exceed expectations, consistently delivering more than anticipated.
    Good purchasing professionals will also fulfill obligations sooner than expected.

In our next post, we’ll review first part of the book on organizational role, supply management strategy, talent, and social responsibility — the stage that a modern supply management professional has to act upon.