For the past few weeks in the Strategic Sourcing & Procurement Group on LinkedIn, members have been debating:

“What direction do you think buyer-supplier relationship is likely to move in the future?”

Lots of perspective, opinions and advice. A few of the highlights …

Collaboration is key

“Collaborative partnerships of joint win / win. New study from Strategic Account Management Association (SAMA) that interviewed 178 Procurement Professionals found they received on average 41% more value from what they term collaborative partnerships; meaning TCO focused, not price / bid everything conflict oriented. Companies that are still around and that have made money in the past have realized that suppliers are a competitive advantage and that focusing on total cost reductions and partnerships is the only way to generate sustainable profitability. “

All suppliers are not equal

“While most buyers continue to adopt ‘Theory X’ assumptions about all their ‘vendors’, and inhabit a ‘critical parent’ ego state, a small but growing number of professional practitioners stratify their suppliers and attempt to build rapport with key suppliers based upon the adoption of an understanding of interpersonal processes.”

Process & technology help

“Supplier relation management is a key topic for most of the Strategic procurement and sourcing professional and this will help in building a more balanced relationship between Buyer and Supplier”

All categories are not equal

“Its all about Profiling the Category of Spend and the Supply base. Every Category is different and will have different attributes given the industry of the buying organization, spend levels, size of suppliers and market conditions.”

The common theme that ran through most of the responses was a dislike of overly generic, sweeping statements. In effect, most were saying that at some point, different categories, industries, suppliers and market conditions require different approaches.

Any predictions you’d care to add? Leave them in the Comments or join the Strategic Sourcing & Procurement Group and post them there.

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.