After finishing the internal and external scanning of the procurement environment, planner/buyers or buyers can begin mapping the procurement organization’s capabilities to support the business plan. The aim of this step is to give procurement and operations management staff a comprehensible assessment of how effectively the procurement organization’s capabilities can support the business’s strategies.
Map Procurement’s Organizational Structure
This activity aims to provide details on the extent of centralization in procurement, the organizational framework for task allocation and execution, the distribution of authority, the level of strategic impact procurement has on the business, and the communication structure between the procurement organization and other business functions.
Map Employee Capabilities
This task aims to verify the competencies of the procurement professionals in the company to carry out the procurement plan. Any inadequacies in their skills must be detected, and a training and certification program should be devised to address any knowledge gaps.
Map Procurement Departmental Practices
The purpose of this task is to uncover various aspects of procurement work, including the level of complexity of existing controls and technologies used in order management, procurement’s ability to perform strategic sourcing and value-adding buyer activities, the utilization of technology tools like e-business and EDI, the use of P-cards and supplier contracts, and the analysis of supplier performance through statistics.