Every organization needs suppliers. No organization can exist without suppliers. Therefore, the organization’s approach to suppliers, its acquisition processes and policies, and its relationships with suppliers will impact not only the performance of the suppliers but also the organization’s own performance. No organization can be successful without the support of its supplier base, operationally and strategically, short- and long-term.
Supply management is focused on the acquisition process recognizing the supply chain and organizational contexts. Special emphasis is on decision making that aligns the supplier network and the acquisition process with organizational goals and strategies and ensures short- and long-term value for funds spent.
There is no one best way of organizing the supply function, conducting its activities, and integrating suppliers effectively. This is both interesting and challenging. It is interesting because the acquisition of organizational requirements covers a very wide and complex set of approaches with different needs and different suppliers. It is challenging because of the complexity and because the process is dynamic, not static. Moreover, some of the brightest minds in this world have been hired as marketing and sales experts to persuade supply managers to choose their companies as suppliers. It is also challenging because every supply decision depends on a large variety of factors, the combination of which may well be unique to a particular organization.
