How To Make "Collaboration" More Than A Buzzword

What does collaboration really mean to procurement? What stands in the way of collaboration? And what’s required for collaboration to truly advance strategic objectives? There has been some discussion of that recently that I think deserves attention.

“Collaboration” is one of those terms that is so much a part of business discussions that it has almost become a buzz word, something that easily slides off the tongue and then dangles in the air briefly until the discussion moves on to other areas. Its importance is taken for granted, and maybe for that reason it doesn’t often get the critical analysis it deserves. What does collaboration really mean? What stands in the way of collaboration? And what’s required for collaboration to truly advance strategic objectives? There has been some discussion of that recently that I think deserves attention.

The first is in the Q/A recently published on these pages with John Preston, head of sourcing and procurement at Essilor and a speaker at the upcoming Procurement Leaders World Procurement Congress, scheduled for 27 May 2015 in London. Preston says procurement can add value by, among other things, looking at “opportunities in parallel value chains and in our surrounding ecosystem....” Collaboration, in the sense of connecting with others, is certainly implicit in that context.

And connecting fully despite physical or psychological distance is important for collaborative efforts to have any chance for success. That’s one of the implied points in a recent article in The Harvard Business Review. Dr. Karen Sobel-Lojeski, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Technology and Society at Stony Brook University, writes that “virtual distance” among would-be collaborators, more than actual distance, can kill collaborative efforts. It’s a sense of detachment that can come from lack of recognition of one party’s accomplishments, a failure to see the potential for mutual benefit, or even the occasional slight, such as scheduling a meeting or conference call without checking first on whether the time is convenient for everyone. Make sure that everyone recognizes they’re in the same boat, she says.

And make sure that the right people are in the boat. Neglecting to include everyone affected by important decisions, such as re-shoring of manufacturing, has led to many collaboration failures.

Technology can be important for collaboration, and there are plenty of tools that can reduce virtual distance. That was among the primary messages at the recent AribaLIVE conference in Las Vegas. Ariba President Alex Atzberger said that networks are everywhere--that, in fact, the world is a network. Jim Gillespie, AIG’s head of e-procurement, spoke of how the connection of SAP, Ariba, Fieldglass, and Concur enabled the collaboration, including with internal business functions, that were critical to the company’s procurement transformation.

Looking for opportunities, articulating mutual benefit, including the right functions, closing the distances--physical and otherwise--and using technology where it makes the most sense are the ways to give meaning to collaboration, to making it more than just a word to be uttered and then left behind.

This article is a piece of independent writing by a member of Procurement Leaders’ content team.

from Procurement Leaders Blog http://www.procurementleaders.com/blog/my-blog--paul-teague/2015/04/13/how-to-make-collaboration-more-than-a-buzzword

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