@Risk

The global economic crisis sent shock waves through every business organization, and understandably, over the past few years, certain executive relationships have fundamentally changed.

For example, in many organizations, CPOs and CFOs are collaborating in new ways, now that CFOs are beginning to realize how optimization of procurement function results in significant business benefits (cost containment, competitive advantage, etc.)

Aberdeen Group takes a close look at these evolving roles in a recently released white paper, titled “The CFO’s View of Procurement: Work in Progress.”

According to the report:

• 78 percent of CFOs consider the impact that procurement has on the enterprise’s competitive position as positive.

• In fact, CFOs in 2009 are 71 percent more likely to view the CPO as having a “very positive” impact on competitiveness than they did in 2007.

Looking ahead, the top planned action by all the procurement departments Aberdeen Group studied is: increasing sourcing activity. 66 percent of Best-in-Class companies are making this a priority because they see sourcing as a way to identify new opportunities to drive value.

(As an aside, I was encouraged to see that the second planned action among all the procurement departments studied is: improving collaboration between procurement and business stakeholders. Is it just me, or are you, too, sensing that 2010 is going to be the year of “collaboration?”)

As the report repeatedly stresses, “The CFO-CPO relationship remains a work in progress.”

Change doesn’t happen overnight, but I expect the trend towards improving the financing-procurement relationship will continue. After all, as Aberdeen Group shows, companies can  benefit from significant savings and enhanced competitiveness once CFOs and CPOs align their goals and objectives.