Last week in the Strategic Sourcing & Procurement Group on LinkedIn, I posed the question:

“What lessons or changes - brought on by the recession - will you continue during the recovery?”

Certainly, with the volatile business climate we’ve all experience in the last 18 months (and are hopefully emerging from), there are adjustments that have been made and take-aways that were taken to heart, which will continue to be applied through the recovery.

A few of the responses thus far…

Monitor Supplier Health

“One top lesson weathering the recession has raised is the significance of managing supplier financial health and other economic risks. Particularly, what role procurement should play to pro-actively identify potential problems early on and then to develop strategies and contingent actions to counterbalance supply chain failures that can eventually occur. Effective leadership (or ownership) of supply relationships equates to managing the outside partnerships as an extension to your own organization and strategies. When times improve, business partners should also expect and anticipate the unexpected as well.”

Predict (and plan for) the Unexpected

“During tough times we should ensure the supplier’s survival so that the supply chain is uninterrupted and works smooth. This process can be carried forward during the recovery period also. Procurement professionals pro actively understand and predict the market situation and help every one down the supply chain formulate their strategy based on this.”

Get Lean & Agile

“Reduce waste, maximize use of existing assets and redeploy to optimize, explore ways to Reuse outdated assets and Recycle spent equipment & consumables.”

It’s often said that the Great Depression was a defining moment that shaped The Greatest Generation’s attitudes and perceptions of money for the rest of their lives. I don’t know if this experience is really on that level, but surely we’ve all learned something we won’t soon forget, right?

So, what has the recession taught you about sourcing/procurement/spend management? And, which of those lessons you’ll carry over to the post-recession world?

Leave your insights in the Comments.

Justin Fogarty is Managing Editor of Supply Excellence. For any questions or feedback on the blog or its contributors, Justin can be reached at jfogarty[at]ariba.com.