The 6th CIPSA Annual Conference – Conference Theme
MANAGING VOLATILITY
On a number of measures, Australia is leading the world in recovering from the global financial crisis (GFC). Having ‘dodged the bullet’, we have an advantage in being able to get back to business quicker, easier and safer than others.
Nevertheless, people understand that things have changed. Nothing will go back to exactly how it was before the credit crunch led to a full-blown global financial crisis. We’ve learned too much. We stared an economic meltdown in the eye – and nobody in business will forget that.
So it is unlikely that we will now sail into permanently calm waters. No-one expects serenity alone after such a storm. Further squalls are likely. After all, economists are already seeing a wide range of indicators which point to future uncertainties. Broad forecasts for the start of 2011 have included, for example, interest rates starting at a 6% base, parity with the US dollar, gold at $1,500/oz and oil at over $100 per barrel again – all very real possibilities. Any of these scenarios could disrupt supply chains. Together, they could derail the Australian economic recovery.
Professional procurement managers have to be ready. They have to plan ahead and prepare for volatility as never before. They must bring a new discipline to procurement strategy to drive down total costs in the context of hands-on risk management. They now have to envisage the likely, the possible and the impossible in securing their supply lines.
The growing awareness of the true cost of supply chain disruption is another factor in the corporate consciousness now. So is the renaissance of corporate benevolence down the supply chain, as sustainability, socially responsible procurement and reputational risk make their way back into boardroom prioirities.
In the last two years, volatility has been the norm. In future, we have to be better prepared for it.
How will we cope in the future with these new pressures? Is the procurement profession capable enough to manage the inevitable? Is it prepared? Is it thinking ahead in the right way to manage the insecurities future shocks bring?
At our first conference to be held in the brand new Crown Conference Centre in Melbourne, delegates will hear from more than 30 senior procurement experts, reflecting on what procurement needs to do next: How it can meet the demands upon it from a desperate range of stakeholders who may just have a new appreciation of the role professional procurement can play in meeting corporate goals better, faster and cheaper in future, and perhaps safer as well, in an environment of constant change and volatility.
The 6th CIPSA Annual Conference will bring together over 700 people and include 10 keynote speakers, a record 30 seminars across five streams, three vendor showcase slots and over 60 exhibitors - as well as the annual dinner for the Procurement Professional Awards 2010 across 10 award categories. This is the premier networking event for procurement professionals in the southern hemisphere.
I look forward to seeing you in Melbourne.
Jonathan Dutton FCIPS
Managing Director
CIPS Australia & New Zealand
Managing Director
CIPS Australia & New Zealand
