According to The Hackett Group’s 2021 Key Issues Study, spend cost reduction is firmly back at the top of the procurement agenda (see “Procurement key issues in 2021” on the next page) following an extremely volatile year, including a global health pandemic, substantial economic disruption, a tense political climate and growing calls for social justice around the world. In times of such great uncertainty, procurement must provide stability to the enterprise through spend cost reduction and supply assurance. As expected, supply risk management has emerged as the procurement function’s second most important objective in 2021.

Procurement must also support enterprise stabilization and recovery strategies by expanding its role as a strategic advisor that can quickly realign to changing market conditions and business priorities, and add new sources of value to the business – for example, new and innovative sources of supply and early warnings of potential supply risk. Other procurement objectives reflect the function’s need to adapt more quickly as conditions change, as well as digital tools, strong talent and improved analytics capabilities. Notably, meeting corporate sustainability goals makes the list of 10 key issues for the first time.