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The Procurement Value Proposition: Making Procurement a Strategic Business Function
A Kurums Book Taste review of The Procurement Value Proposition for procurement leaders who need to move their function beyond cost savings and prove strategic value to the executive team.
Why this book fits Kurums
Procurement teams are often judged only on savings, which keeps them at the edge of strategic decisions. Chick, a long-time procurement executive, and Handfield, a supply chain professor at NC State, describe how leading organizations reposition procurement as a source of innovation, risk management, and competitive advantage.
For the Kurums Procurement audience the book is a framework for building the business case for procurement's role: stakeholder engagement, category strategy, supplier relationship management, and the capabilities needed to move from transactional buying to strategic supply management.
What the book argues
The first argument is that procurement's traditional value proposition - price reductions - is shrinking in strategic relevance. Cost savings matter, but executives increasingly need the function to manage supply risk, secure innovation from suppliers, support sustainability goals, and enable growth. Procurement leaders who continue to report only savings will remain tactical while other functions take over supplier strategy.
The second argument describes the operating model of a strategic procurement function. It starts with understanding internal stakeholders' business needs, then builds category strategies that align spend with business objectives. Supplier relationship management segments the supply base and invests in collaborative relationships with strategic suppliers. Capabilities - market intelligence, analytics, contract management, and talent - must be developed deliberately, and governance must give procurement a seat in business planning rather than at the end of the decision chain.
The third argument is about measurement and influence. The authors argue for a broader scorecard that captures total cost, risk mitigation, supplier innovation, and contribution to business outcomes, and for communication in the language of the executive team. Case examples show organizations moving through maturity stages, illustrating both the gains and the obstacles - silos, skills gaps, and resistance from budget holders. The closing message is that procurement earns strategic status by demonstrating impact on what the business cares about most.
Key ideas, translated to your desk
Report value beyond savings
Add risk reduction, supplier innovation, and total cost impact to procurement reporting so executives see the function's full contribution.
Start with stakeholder needs
Build each category strategy from the business owner's objectives, not from last year's spend analysis alone.
Segment and invest in key suppliers
Identify strategic suppliers and run joint improvement and innovation programmes with them, measured like internal projects.
Use it at work
- Redesign the procurement scorecard to include total cost, risk, innovation, and sustainability measures.
- Hold annual planning sessions with each major budget holder before setting category strategies.
- Segment the supply base and launch supplier relationship management for the top strategic suppliers.
- Assess procurement capabilities against a maturity model and fund the largest gaps.
Read it if
- You lead procurement and want a stronger strategic role in your organization.
- You need a structured case to present procurement's value to the executive team.
- You liked Out of the Crisis and want a modern view of supplier relationships.
You can skip it if
- You need detailed negotiation or contract-drafting techniques.
- Your procurement function is already fully integrated into strategy and planning.
- You prefer narrative, story-driven books - this one reads like a professional guide.
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