Professionalising procurement, part 2: raising the bar for all
CIPS Futures | The Procurement and Supply Chain PodcastShow Notes
In our second episode of the CIPS Futures podcast mini-series brought to you by the CIPS ANZ team, we talk to Jane Wagner and Samir El-Sabagh, both procurement professionals from the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Aged Care. As a former CIPS Leader of the Year, Jane explains what procurement can learn from the finance profession in following a maturity path to develop capability and ensure that the value of highly qualified procurement and contract management professionals is recognised in strategic roles. And we get under the skin of how professional qualifications translate to being better at your job. Samir shares his journey to becoming CIPS qualified, why it's opened new doors in his career and offers candid examples of how he's delivered improved outcomes for the Australian public sector as a direct result of embarking on a learning pathway. Further reading:
About the Australian Public Service Commission's Procurement and Contract Management Profession CIPS ANZ regional hub Make CIPS your career companion - become a member
Have you seen the new and improved CIPS Professional Register? The directory shares the professional status of procurement and supply chain practitioners around the world, and you can now personalise your profile with specialisms and expertise.
Check out your listing on the Professional Register
More from CIPS Futures | The Procurement and Supply Chain Podcast
Corruption in procurement is changing. It is no longer simply a buyer taking a bribe from a supplier. Nor does it exist only in certain geographies or industries. As global supply networks become more complex, risks are becoming harder to spot, from hidden beneficial ownership and inflated intermediary fees to manipulated e-auctions, tailored specifications and AI-generated documentation designed to look legitimate.We’re joined by Sope Williams, Distinguished Visiting Professor in Government Contracts Law at George Washington University and CIPS Global Head of Sustainability Maxfield Weiss, to explore why corruption remains a persistent challenge in modern supply chains. And what procurement professionals can do about it.We discuss why traditional compliance programmes often fail to change behaviour, how technology can both expose and enable misconduct, and why digital literacy is now a core procurement competency. The conversation also examines the importance of asking difficult questions early, strengthening transparency across supply chains, and ensuring that subcontractors and their suppliers can be trusted.Plus, why leaders must "walk the talk" and give their teams genuine authority to challenge corrupt practices. Further reading:
Part two of the CIPS Foundation special features Tony’s Chocolonely Chief Impact Officer, Pascal Baltussen, sharing how the company exists to end exploitation and child labour in cocoa farming. Pascal talks us through the company’s five sourcing principles – and why all of them must be done in a united impact model, consistently, to bring about real systemic change.
In the first of a two-part series, CIPS Foundation lead Emma Scott speaks with ActionAid programme officer, Afram Kwame, about the work being done by the charity in West Africa to address the problem of child labour in coca supply chains.
In this episode, we talk to one of procurement's great thinkers, Dr Elouise Epstein, futurist, author and partner at Kearney. In a fascinating conversation with CIPS global CEO Ben Farrell and governance director Kate Tomlinson, she discusses: why AI will change everything but won't take your job; why we should watch how private equity deploys procurement; supply chains as national security assets; and the importance of telling great stories. Plus, we reveal how CIPS and Elouise will be working together to take procurement professionals to a new level of AI expertise. Related links...
The AI revolution, shifting geopolitical alliances, and a new generation in the workforce. Mike Soutar, author of Next Gen CEO and star from the BBC’s The Apprentice describes these as "the three storms". What does this mean for the next generation of leaders? Mike has 60 lessons, but here are just two: it's a leader's job to maintain momentum; and people don't follow pessimists. Plus, why procurement and supply chain professionals are in a unique position to lead organisations in an uncertain, fast-moving world. From creating space for constructive dissent to building culture in remote organisations, this revealing conversation with CIPS CEO Ben Farrell is a fascinating insight into the future of leadership. This episode is sponsored by Vantify, the vantage point for connected compliance. You can find out more about them at Vantify.com Related links...