There are worrying relations between finance and procurement departments, according to new research.
Despite sharing financial processes and systems, the statistics show that only 22% of senior finance executives work ‘very closely’ with their procurement divisions.
The figures show that 66% of finance respondents claimed that procurement hinders their departments’ progress. Almost a third cited that it is ‘restricting the free choice of suppliers’ and ‘extend[s] the time taken to process orders.’
Daniel Ball is the Director at Wax Digital. He believes clearer delegation will benefit companies.
“The two departments should identify clearer parameters of ownership to determine who will lead certain areas of these processes, based on which team is best placed to do so or can provide the greatest levels of experience or skill,” he said.
So, how can they bridge this gap?
Ball believes that “HR executives should seek to mediate.”
Speaking to Executive Grapevine, he said: “HR should also seek to proactively improve interdepartmental relationships and teamwork with shared objectives and overlapping processes to improve working relationships and potentially achieve better results for the business.”
The study was conducted by Redshift on behalf of Wax Digital.
Over 200 senior decision makers from procurement, finance, IT and sales and marketing were questioned as a part of the research. Participants were asked questions based on their relationships at work.
