As organizations seek to become more efficient and effective, one proven strategy is the ability to manage cross-functional processes using a global process ownership (not “group purchasing organization”) model.
the maverick, Exploring Procurement’s Other GPO, Spend Matters

GPO is harder than it looks. As the maverick points out, it’s ultimately about having both accountability for an end-to-end process and the ability to control the strategies and resources used for the process execution. If Procurement is made accountable, but Finance and the Engineering organization controls the financial and physical resources, then Procurement cannot control the global process. And this is another reason why the full extent of negotiated savings and identified value is never realized and end results are never as expected. Because, without control to go with the accountability, Procurement cannot execute. Planning, which is just another word for Knowing, is only half the battle. And it’s a shame the CFO and the rest of the C-suite don’t remember this single lesson that they should have been paying attention to when watching G.I. Joe every Saturday morning. (It was supposed to be about more than just blowing stuff up, even though that is what is perceived as the American way.)

Of course, this assumes that Procurement even knows what to do. As the maverick goes on to explain in his next piece on the 3 dimensions of global process ownership, global process ownership is more than just process breadth / scope. It’s also, as some of the leaders recognize, organizational breadth / scope as most Procurement-based processes have repercussions and effects throughout the organization, and, more importantly, category management breadth / scope. The organizations that understand, and effectively execute against, this third dimension are the organizations that truly excel and make their way into the Hackett Group top 8%. Different categories have to be managed in different ways. There is no one-size-fits-all process or organizational framework.

And that’s one of the many reasons sourcing must be strategic.