In late December I chaired a roundtable focusing on procurement talent. We discussed how the changing role of procurement has resulted in a considerable skills shortage within the profession (full write-up available in the next edition of the European Leaders In Procurement magazine). A number of interesting points were raised, however, the one that caused most debate was the issue of how the profession was perceived by the business world, and how this effected the attraction of new blood. Central to this, how the profession was named.

Procurement vs. Purchasing. In short, the consensus around the table was that ‘purchasing’ was still viewed by much of the business world as an administrative function, linked back to order management. Whilst ‘procurement’ steps away from the transactional side and is seen as more of a strategic function.

Here is a excerpt from the article ‘Talent Scouts’ which will be featured in the next edition of the European Leaders In Procurement magazine.

Friedhelm Felten Maybe there’s a language issue here. When we want to set ourselves up in a strategic position in a company we use the word procurement. But you also hear the word purchasing. If I see the word purchasing I think of order management and so on. For me it's a key starting point. It’s about how you position yourself to the business community.

Manja Thiry There is a lot of confusion over this. The terms “procurement” and “purchasing” have been used interchangeably.

David Cowell The meaning is very similar. But we’ve moved to a different wording to identify a change in the organisation. A few years ago we were known as purchasing but we consciously decided to use the word procurement. It meant we were going to be strategic, we were going to do things differently and be part of the business connected to the other functions. One way of getting people’s attention to this was to change the name. But having done that, purchasing, by definition, becomes the transactional piece and procurement becomes the strategic piece.

Tom de Bruin It’s all part of making the role and function more sexy, of establishing a brand to attract talent.

So, what's in the name?

The point of this blog entry is to continue the debate. If anyone has any feedback or thoughts around this topic I love to hear them.

Comments please!