What is your role and what are your day-to-day responsibilities?
As president of Real Sourcing Network (RSN), I oversee our growth, strategy and marketing. I strive to provide useful content and actionable tips to help companies better manage their print and marketing spend.
What is something that you wish more people knew about sourcing and procurement?
Procurement is invaluable. The COVID-19 crisis has shown the world that healthy supply chains are essential. Procurement is no longer a profession where people just cut costs and write POs. It now plays a strategic, visionary and creative role that is an essential part of a company’s (and our country's) success.
Procurement does not yet have a seat at the executive table in many organizations, but with the right leadership in place, it has the potential to become a more valued and revenue-generating function. Accomplishing this is a challenge and is a great reason for ambitious people to choose procurement over other more well-known careers. I have a bias toward marketing services procurement. I think it’s super challenging, fun and has the most potential for making an impact!
When Barry Kull was going through the recruitment process at Novo Nordisk, his son was diagnosed with diabetes. Walking into his meeting, Kull was apprehensive about mentioning his son’s diagnosis, but when the conversation went such, Kull brought up it up. He was glad he did. “When I mentioned my son’s diagnosis, the CFO’s body language and energy absolutely changed. He leaned into the conversation and was genuinely curious about my son. He told me how Novo Nordisk addresses challenges that adolescent type 1’s encounter.” Kull realized that the executives at Novo Nordisk care. He is now proud to represent a company that, throughout the organization, empathizes with its customers.
Finding Suppliers That Care
Kull doesn’t expect suppliers to care as much as Novo Nordisk, but he expects them to understand why they care so much. He expects the suppliers to lead, to anticipate and to push their thinking. Kull believes that all procurement professionals should have supply partners that are good people with strong ethics.
The Cooperative Ecosystem
A cooperative ecosystem is a combination of different partners and suppliers that bring their own set of values to the table. The partners and suppliers work together to solve a specific problem or to create an opportunity.
In the context of launching a new pharmaceutical brand, the following is Kull’s (paraphrased) list of potential partners and suppliers that might be part of a brand-viable ecosystem:
SIG Speaks to Sarah Scudder, President, Real Sourcing Network
What is your role and what are your day-to-day responsibilities?
As president of Real Sourcing Network (RSN), I oversee our growth, strategy and marketing. I strive to provide useful content and actionable tips to help companies better manage their print and marketing spend.
What is something that you wish more people knew about sourcing and procurement?
Procurement is invaluable. The COVID-19 crisis has shown the world that healthy supply chains are essential. Procurement is no longer a profession where people just cut costs and write POs. It now plays a strategic, visionary and creative role that is an essential part of a company’s (and our country's) success.
Procurement does not yet have a seat at the executive table in many organizations, but with the right leadership in place, it has the potential to become a more valued and revenue-generating function. Accomplishing this is a challenge and is a great reason for ambitious people to choose procurement over other more well-known careers. I have a bias toward marketing services procurement. I think it’s super challenging, fun and has the most potential for making an impact!
>>Read more: Sarah Scudder covers marketing services procurement on Future of Sourcing<<