The CPO: Transforming Procurement in the Real World

by Christian Schuh, Michael F. Strohmer, Stephen Easton

In the novelThe CPO: Transforming Procurement in the Real World, we meet Thomas Sutter, a German-American living in Dusseldorf and working as a procurement manager for a major global automobile manufacturer, Autowerke. On a chance encounter while flying to Chicago, he meets the CEO of Heartland, a major food company in the U.S. Sutter impresses the CEO with his knowledge and, after a whirlwind courtship, he joins Heartland as its new Chief Procurement Officer, based in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Hired to transform procurement at Heartland, Sutter has an enormous challenge: to bring its procurement practices into the 21st century and save the company $5 billion. Despite the knowledge and experience he gained at Autowerke, Sutter fights over the next 18 months to find his place at Heartland, institute world-class procurement models and methods, win over the procurement teams and senior executives, and meet his goal. At first, his reputation--and his marriage--suffer, along with the company's overall sales and revenue. Can he pull a rabbit out of the hat? The CPO: Transforming Procurement depicts the real-life challenges of transforming procurement, while demonstrating the benefits of innovative procurement and leadership methods. Written by global thought leaders in A.T. Kearney's procurement and supply management practice--consultants who have helped numerous companies chop billions of dollars in costs out of their procurement budgets--The CPO will prove invaluable for those in purchasing and procurement. It will also present essential information to those in the C suite looking for ways to boost profits and productivity. The CPO: Portrays best-in-class, real-life, actionable methods to turn procurement into a function that can save billions and improve the bottom line. Provides a fun way to learn essential lessons in procurement and change management. Shows how rejecting victimhood in all its aspects leads to personal and business success. Presents lessons in novel format--like The Goal, Who Moved My Cheese, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, and others--to engage you and show techniques in action. What you'll learn World-class methods and techniques for transforming the procurement function into a productivity powerhouse that directly and significantly contributes to improving the bottom line. Insights into assessing the procurement and supply chain management organization and locating the levers for change. How to calculate the return on supply management assets and understand supply and demand dynamics in the context of procurement. Principles of leadership and change management: Finding and shuffling talent to effect change, making the case for change, mobilizing and motivating people, and training workers at all levels to think and act in new and useful ways. The tools of transformation: employing circles of influence, rejecting victimhood, creating a plan to succeed, and more. Who this book is for

The CPO is a book for ambitious buyers, procurement managers, and C-level executives. CEOs will read it to have an understanding of how procurement transformation supports the strategic goals of the company, CFOs will read it to know what the return on procurement transformation could be, CPOs will read it to learn new methods and metrics and how to put them into profitable practices. It's also for those who want to enjoy a good book while learning how to transform their private lives along with their careers and the companies they work for. Table of Contents 44 chapters--titles to come.

Genres: Business

248 pages, Paperback

First published December 25, 2008

About the author

Christian Schuh is a trained engineer with degrees in aeromechanics and artificial intelligence (doctorate) from TU Graz. After three years at Unilever, he joined A.T. Kearney in 1995. His career in consulting has taken him to exciting places like NASA's Johnson Space Center and mega-factories in China with more than 300,000 workers. He spent many years advising car makers in Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Brazil and the US and is more recently focusing on high tech firms in the US and in Taiwan.

He is best known for his books The Purchasing Chessboard and The CPO and is currently launching two new books, one on Supplier Relationship management with Michael Strohmer, Stephen Easton Mike Hales and Alenka Triplat and another one on Corporate Plasticity with Laurent Chevreux, Wim Plaizier, Wayne Brown and Alenka Triplat.

He lives in the historic center of Vienna, Austria.

Reviews

[Mark Phinney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Passably Interesting Tale of a CPO at a Multinational Corporation

A very high-level tale of an outsider expatriate that happens to get tapped for the "modern" Chief Procurement Officer position at a multinational foodstuffs corporation with its headquarters in Indiana. The struggles involve remolding the corporate structure and culture to create integrated product lines, as well as dealing with the family stresses of moving from a "cosmopolitan" German city to a provincial/backwards "American heartland" town.

[Allen He · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the most relevant book for me right now. Ever since I became the procurement manager of my family business, I experienced many similar problems faced by the CPO in this book. Almost all of the solutions & advice offered in the book can be well applied in China. Although I don't enjoy my time at Kearney, I am grateful for Kearney's consultants writing this engaging book.

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

About as a exciting a novel as can be written about the recruitment of a procurement executive from Dusseldorf to Fort Wayne, IN. In true business fashion he fixes his business first and his marriage second.

[Carlos · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's like "The Goal", but focused in Procurement. I really enjoyed reading this book. Well written and full of "CPO Best Practices".

[Karin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Business-book written as a novel that explains the challenges of change management and procurement. Easy to read, entertaining, informative.

[David Highton · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent exposition of modern procurement theory and practice