Strategic Procurement Strategy
Strategic Procurement Strategy
Developing best value purchasing at Lehman Brothers
With an annual spend of more than US100 million it was vital for global investment bank Lehman Brothers to run its purchasing activity effectively during a recruitment period to find a permanent purchasing director.
The need for an expert in strategic procurement
The bank took the decision to appoint an interim manager. PA recommended Robert Wesley a senior executive with over 20 years’experience in purchasing with BTR pic Inchcape Pacific and Alliance amp; Leicester.
Improved leadership
Robert was appointed on a threemonth contract initially which was extended for a further three months whilst the permanent recruitment was underway. The benefit of
his appointment came from improved leadership of major contract negotiations covering all Lehman Brothers’ business areas in Europe direction and guidance to the fourperson central team buying desktop technology and stationery supplies and improved supply chain management.
Negotiating new contracts
A number of major suppliers were reviewed and a groupwide contract data base was
established to help control the negotiation of new contracts and to promote a move towards the use of a smaller number of preferred suppliers offering best value.
This included appraisals and reviews of the current suppliers and the introduction of servicelevel agreements including competition and termination clauses which meant that if the prices from one supplier moved out of line with competitors Lehman Brothers had the right to switch suppliers without penalty. “At the completion of the sixmonth assignment the purchasing team was in good shape and there was heightened awareness around the group of the benefits that can be derived from professional purchasing. I was then able to hand over to the permanent purchasing director when he came on board.”
Robert Wesley
Interim Manager
Previously published on the Impact Executives website read the original lt;a href=”http://www.impactexecutives.com/forclients/clientsuccesses/strategicprocurementstrategy.html“gt;strategic procurement strategylt;/agt; article.
About the writer: I am currently a Director of Impact Executives which is a Global Interim Management provider part of the Harvey Nash Group and in this role I am at the frontline of dealing with senior clients and candidates across a wide range of change HR and resourcing issues. I have extensive commercial experience gained through general management and board roles within both Plc’s and also through running my own businesses. I have over 18 years international experience of providing crossfunctional resourcing solutions to both global businesses and startups. I specialise in the following sectors: Technology Media Telecommunications Pharmaceutical Biotechnology and Local Authorities. Visit my blog at http://www.impactexecutives.com/journal/clivesexton or the Impact Executives website at www.impactexecutives.com.
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