The effects of maturity of purchasing and supply management (PSM) in the evolution of savings: From price to sustainability

Abstract

Purchasing and Supply Management (PSM) during last decades have been increasing their influence within companies, evolving and adapting their proposal to the challenging, uncertain, and changing economic environment. Due to factors like, the increasingly disaggregated supply chain, specialized IT systems generating more data, geographical transitions from local to low-cost countries and eventually the evolution to the right shoring, mature markets highly competitive, and the co-responsibility in the supply chain in sustainability and ethical issues, making a stricter compliance framework. All the above has made the activity of PSM more complex. Nevertheless, their experience acquired searching for effectiveness and efficiency, improving the productivity, is a highly valuable knowledge, growing out from tactical to strategic positions. Thus, increasing their options to generate more complex savings. This article helps to understand how the evolution of the PSM function has affected to the generation of savings, since they are traditionally a tangible contribution of PSM within companies. Linking the maturity of PSM to more complex savings and ending with a connection between those savings and sustainability through the positive effects they have on environmental issues. This research attempts to give a positive and an updated meaning to savings as a powerful tool that the PSM has, to add value for different stakeholders, while improving the performance of the company.