Decideware

From Adversarial to Co-operative - How to Improve Supplier Relationship Management Practices

A recent article in SupplyManagement.com, 8 May 2008 highlights the supplier management journey of UK infrastructure provider Network Rail and makes the point that change is achievable with good leadership.

Following criticism of its previous supplier management policy, characterised as adversarial in nature and failing to properly address a balance between risk and reward, the head of contracts and procurement, Ian Ballentine committed to change in the organisation and said he wanted the group to improve the company's approach towards suppliers.

"There are elements of adversarial behaviour," he said. "You do see aggressive behaviour arise when things are not going well.

"Where we see it we will use training to get people to understand there are other ways of delivering a project rather than banging on the table and saying, 'I need my project today'."

Graham Coombs, communications director at supplier membership organisation the Railway Industry Association, said it was a positive step for the sector. "There is no doubt in the days of Railtrack [Network Rail's predecessor] that it was highly adversarial. It has been changing ever since. We are not quite in a fully co-operative environment, but we are moving in the right direction," he said.

Source: SupplyManagement .com