New Research Gives Insight into the Procurement Practices of the Top 100 US Public Companies

CHICAGO, Oct. 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- TradingPartners (www.tradingpartners.com), the leader in spend management and visibility technology and services, today released research showing the spend management and sustainable supply chain practices of Fortune 100 companies.  The study showed that while almost half of the top public companies cited spend management as a key strategic objective, only four have a Chief Procurement Officer.  The research results also illustrate that:

• Only 20% of companies have board members with procurement or supply chain backgrounds.
• The most successful companies have advanced sourcing tools.
• Companies that include suppliers in their corporate, social and environmental responsibilities (CSER) programs, tend to have a higher net income margin than those who do not.
• Despite CSER being a success factor for many companies, only seven Fortune 100s have a Chief Sustainability Officer.
• 35% of CEOs see emerging markets as a key strategic objective, yet only 15% have executives from BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) countries on their senior management team.

The study "Procurement Practices: What Every Company Needs to Know About Spend Management Practices in Fortune 100 Companies" was officially released today in conjunction with TradingPartners' first annual procurement forum in Chicago.  The event hosts C-level executives focusing on innovation in spend management and visibility, as well as sustainable supply chain best practices.

"Our objective with this research was to determine the best practices in both spend and sustainable supply chain management among the top companies in the country," said Mark Barnekow, Chief Executive Officer of TradingPartners.  "We were astonished to discover that many companies are not taking full advantage of the tools they have, nor are they making serious commitments at the board or executive level to focus on managing spend."

A slideshow summary of the study can be found at http://slidesha.re/v1Orda, while the full version of the research is available on request from www.tradingpartners.com.

About TradingPartners

Based in Chicago, with European headquarters in London, and operations in Africa, Asia and Latin and South America, TradingPartners provides growing companies and global Fortune 500 firms with the most comprehensive and effective spend management and visibility technologies and services.  With a global vertical focus in foodservice, healthcare, manufacturing, public sector, retail and services industries, TradingPartners assists its customers to reduce the cost of their direct and indirect purchases with tangible results often in the 10-25% range.  TradingPartners' unparalleled domain expertise, comprehensive supplier database, and robust spend management technology platform have helped hundreds of corporations and public sector entities achieve dramatic business process improvements and tangible cost savings.  For more information, visit www.tradingpartners.com.

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SOURCE TradingPartners