ISM survey indicates people remain a stumbling block to procurement success

Technology is great, but people continue to be the largest roadblock to procurement performance, according to respondents of an online survey conducted by three researchers.

The results were announced at the recent Institute for Supply Management World 2023 conference in Grapevine, Texas.

Data was collected between February and April of this year via online survey in collaboration with ISM. In all, 409 people were considered full respondents, while over 1,200 people contributed to at least some part of the survey.

Researchers Marcell Vollmer, CEO of Prospitalia Group, Christoph Bode, professor at the University of Mannheim’s Business School, holding the endowed chair of procurement, and Ruth Schültken, doctoral researcher at University of Mannheim’s Business School, presented the State of Procurement Professional Survey 2023 results at ISM World.

Respondents were asked to rank performance roadblocks on a scale of 1 to 7, with 1 not at all and 7 representing to a very large extent. People scored between a 4 and 5, just outpacing technology, tasks and structure. All the answers scored higher than a 4, indicating procurement professionals are facing a series of challenges in performing their jobs.

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