The CPO: Transforming Procurement in the Real World

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In the novel The 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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1194087 in Books
• Published on: 2012-11-20
• Released on: 2012-11-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 9.02″ h x .55″ w x 5.98″ l, .80 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

About the Author
Christian Schuh is the leader of A.T. Kearney’s Supply Management Practice in EMEA and is based in Vienna, Austria. He joined A.T. Kearney 17 years ago and has since then led multiple projects for clients in the automotive, construction equipment, defense, high tech, packaging, and steel industry in Austria, China, France, Germany, Russia, the UK, Ukraine, and the USA. His areas of expertise include strategic sourcing, high-end R&D, and organization. He is the author of various books (most notably The Purchasing Chessboard), monographs, and articles. Before he joined A.T. Kearney, he worked several years for Unilever. Schuh studied aeronautical engineering at TU Graz (Austria) and holds a doctorate in business administration. He lives in the historic city center of Vienna.

Michael F. Strohmer is a member of A.T. Kearney’s Operations Practice and leader of the European raw material competence team. He is based in Vienna, Austria. In his 11 years with the firm, he has led projects at a broad range of international clients, mainly in post-merger situations. His work encompasses the utilities sector, automotive, defense, consumer goods, packaging, and steel. He is an expert on raw material strategies, procurement transformation, post-merger management, and large-scale CAPEX projects. He has published several books (including The Purchasing Chessboard) and articles, and is a frequent speaker at international conferences. Strohmer holds a doctorate in business administration and law. He lives in Austria’s picturesque lake region near Salzburg.

Stephen Easton leads the A.T. Kearney procurement team in the UK, and he is based in London. He joined A.T Kearney 14 years ago, focusing on working with clients to improve the effectiveness of their external procurement activity. He has supported a number of both private and public sector clients to achieve significant and sustained financial results. Stephen has an MBA from Cornell University and a first degree in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics from the University of Oxford. He lives in Surrey, southwest of London.

Armin Scharlach is a member in A.T. Kearney s Procurement and Analytics Solutions practice. He is helping clients around the world in transformation projects to define holistic, state-of-the-art procurement IT architectures. Scharlach is also a recognized global thought leader in Collaborative Optimization, helping CPOs to find additional savings when the low-hanging fruit has been collected already. With his rapidly growing team of experts in innovative, high-end analytical approaches (network modeling, marketing analytics, big data, optimization, simulation and advanced statistics) he is helping clients break through the barriers of traditional procurement and supply chain methods.

Peter Scharbert is a member of A.T. Kearney’s Procurement and Analytic Solutions practice and leads the European competence team for Procurement Performance Management. In his 13 years with the firm, Peter has led numerous procurement-related projects in Europe and in the Middle East for clients from various industries, including pharmaceutical/life sciences, financial services, and diversified conglomerates. His specific focus is on procurement performance management, procurement transformation and strategic sourcing. Peter holds a degree in industrial engineering from University of Karlsruhe. He lives in the Basel area, where Germany, Switzerland, and France meet.