1. SUPPLY MANAGEMENT
Hard Value of Soft Kills July 2015
The abilities to
Sought by CPOs
That are worth
Billions to the
economy

2. The members of group 2
• Ernest Kojo Banini (040914046)
• Jordan Elorm Asafo (040914022)
• Evans Titus Teye (040914401)

3. Learning Objectives
• Understanding the meaning and effects of soft skill in
business
• What are some of the benefit of soft skills
• Understanding the challenges of procurement
• Knowing your purchasing decisions
• How loose languages could result in defect of specification
• Transparency in procurement sector
• How e-procurement could reduce corruption in the sector

4. A skill is the learned ability
to carry out a task with
predetermined result often
within a given amount of
time, energy or both. In
other words, the abilities
that one can possess

5. “The problem with soft skills is the word ʽsoft’.” It’s certainly not a
particular helpful description of abilities that are crucial to high-
performing organizations. Perhaps they need rebranding. They
include relationship-building skills such as being a good
communicator, working well with colleagues, accepting
responsibility, showing respect, managing time, working under
pressure and managing conflict.
They also refer to your level of emotional intelligence – or
emotional quotient – which includes self-awareness, empathy
and social skills.

6. CPOs of high – performing teams, soft skills can be what give them the
edge, as Frank Scharadin, executive director of global procurement at
MGM Resorts International says, soft skills and emotional intelligence in
particular, are what deliver long-term success for procurement and
supply teams because they can help navigate the most difficult
negotiations and lead you to the deal you want.
“In easy contract where everyone wants the same outcome, emotional
intelligence isn't that relevant. It comes into play during difficult
conversations when you have to get the supplier to a place they didn’t
see they might be going, and that benefits you – perhaps a longer term
deal”

7. Applying emotional intelligence involves; “trying to understand and
think about what is important to the other person and what they are
after, listening, communication, reading body language and facial
expression and being respectful,” he says.
At the end of the deal if you can get the supplier where you want
them to be and they feel it’s a win; that’s a key indicator of emotional
intelligence at play.
Scharadin explains that during complex conversations he aims to
meet a person more than once in other to build a report and avoid
the pitfalls of coming away with a misleading impression.

8. He also made it clear to us that; we are all human, so a company’s
goals and the mental state of that person might not align in that
precise moment we are meeting. Some might have had a fight with
their partner then come to work mentally distracted and
emotionally upset. These are all things to be aware of. Emotional
intelligence has taken on increasing relevance at MGM Resorts in
the past five years or so, Scharadin add.
CPOs look for individuals with these innate abilities over technical
competencies which they believe are easier to teach to those they
hire.
There is an extensive list of attitudinal and behavioral qualities and
attributes identified as creating high-performance workplace.
The Value of Soft Skills to the UK Economy has condensed these
into being able to:

9. • Listen well
• Communicate effectively
• Be positive
• Manage conflict
• Accept responsibility
• Show respect
• Work well with co-workers
• Manage time effectively
• Work well under pressure.

10. Meanwhile psychologist Daniel Golemn, who helped
popularize the concept of emotional intelligence, defines
it as “referring to the abilities to recognize and regulate
emotions in ourselves and in others.”
It covers four clusters of abilities: self-awareness, self-
management, empathy and social skills. He say there is a
widespread recognition that these abilities separate the
most successful workers and leaders from the average.
This is especially true in roles like the professions and
higher level executives.

11. Take a hard look at your soft skills to ensure
you get hired
• It’s often not difficult to understand what technical skills are
required for a buyer or procurement professional to perform
their role.
• Certainly when you are on the lookout for new opportunities it
is as simple as looking at the job description and ticking what
you are capable of doing against the stated requirements.
• It is not enough to have just technical skills, it is imperative to
have the soft skills to underpin them. The point at which your
technical skills intersect with your soft skills, you become
deliberately competent to perform the task at hand.

12. • Technical skills may help employers determine someone will
perform on the job, but they won't tell them how a potential hire
will fit in at the company. If he or she doesn't have the right type of
personality, that person probably isn't right for the business. Soft
skills will show managers that employees can get along with the
coworkers and clientele, think on their feet and communicate
intelligently, all of which are especially appealing to corporations,
according to The Associated Press.
• Customer service is an important part of the supply chain. If
employees are shy, arrogant, aggressive or condescending, your
business is going to lose clientele. By ensuring everyone on staff
has at least a small amount of soft skills, you will have workers who
know how to handle any situation that comes their way. They'll be
able to work with their peers and with customers to solve problems
in the best way possible.

13. • In simple terms, emotional intelligence is the ability to
understand ourselves and other people at an emotional level.
The people we deal with are individuals and their emotions
drive their attitudes, thinking and behavior far more than we
know. If we understand people’s emotional state and moods we
can connect with them better. That opens the door to do the
technical work we want to do with them.
• If companies make mistakes in their new employees, they may
face deficiencies in productivity, competitiveness and
profitability, the Development Economics report, "The Value of
Soft Skills to the U.K. Economy," claimed. The lack of soft skills in
one area will interfere with the rest of the supply chain.

14. • Brook Fowles, former CIPS Australasia Young Procurement and
Supply Chain Management Professional of the year, believes they
are the heart of procurement. “At it’s core,” she says;
“procurement isn’t about templates, flow charts and approvals –
it’s about communicating, problem solving, influencing and
negotiating. It’s using these skills to understand the needs of
business and meeting those needs at the highest quality, lowest
cost and with the least risk possible.
• It is a world challenging profession. Procurement challenges can
eliminate slavery from a supply chain and prevent the degradation
of the natural environment. Whether it’s eradicating polio or
delivering more effective disaster relief, it’s going to play a key role
in meeting future global challenges. She added.

15. • Delivering the best outcome for the community in a fiscally
constrained environment. Procurement has a big role to play in
bringing the requirement and the market together in creative ways
to deliver value for money. That’s the fun challenge. The less fun
one is removing the administrative burden so you can be nimble
and innovative within a good governance frame work.
• A survey of CIPS has found the poll carried out shows 45 percent
buyers do not have ‘plan B’ that stretches down the tiers of their
supply chain. It is also said, purchasers could outsource production
“they can not outsource accountability and responsibility.”
Therefore professionals and buyers must have a license to practice,
so business and government can be confident of where
responsibilities and accountability lies in purchasing decisions

16. • Procurement is about more than just tackling price. It is about
managing risk, which is at the root of the upcharge above base cost.
It’s true that majority of senior people in business consider
procurement to be about reducing the ticket price but that is a
mistake.
• True procurement runs from conception right through supplier
selection, purchase, utilization and decommissioning. The root run
deep into an organization and the fruit is worth it. It’s equally true
that reducing cost to your business is a key driver but so is ‘good
procurement practice’. And one flows from the other.

17. • Moore Blatch a renowned lawyer said contracts should make it clear
who is ultimately responsible for all specifications and standards in
project. The lay firm’s warning follows a recent Court of Appeal
ruling in a case between MT Hojgaard and E.on climate and
Renewables, where the contractor MT Hojgaard was found not
liable for the design problems of a wind farm’s foundations caused
by defects in an international standard used.
• The law firm warned that very specific language should be used in
contracts and said when a company is employed to create a
technical specification, it is legally liable if the specification is
defective due to it’s negligence or poor performance.

18. • Whether a contractor has an absolute obligation to supply a
deliverable (even if a relevant standard/specification is defective)
will depend on the specification language. Loose language
could result in it being responsible for defects in a specification
what are not it’s fault.
• Supplies often promise to go the extra mile for a client, but
turning this into legal binding commitment can prove difficult.
One approach is to insert an endeavors clause into the contract
to determine a level of effort.

19. TRANSPARENT
GOVERNANCE
‘KEY TO FIGHT
CORRUPTION’
Granting the public greater oversight of
public procurement is a key to tackling
corruption, the vice president of Ghana
has said.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum
African conference in Cape Town, Kwesi
Amissah-Authur said, making information
about government activity more widely
available allows government and
parliament decisions to be questioned.
“It is transparency that provides the
information available that provides the
key answer to the question of corruption.

20. Because if you open procurement system to public interest
accountability committees for example who are appointed by
NGOs without Government interference who are founded by
government to do their work, it is a key in the battle against
corruption and maladministration.” he said.
He added the Ghanaian government’s policy over the past
25years had been political, administrative and fiscal
decentralization “do that people at lower of the system are able
to get involve in the decision making as to resource allocation.”
Amissah-Arthur praised the role of the public interest
accountability committees, which have been created in some
sectors such as oil and gas, and are made up of people outside
government to review the way resources are used and publish
reports to highlight and address issues they identify.

21. KENYA
PRIVATE SECTOR
BACKS MOVE ON
E-PROCUREMENT
The Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) has
welcomed plans to enforce the use of e-
procurement.
President Uhuru Kenyatta has warned all
government officials that they must adhere to
the requirement to use the new e-
procurement system, designed to increase
transparency and reduce corruption.
KEPSA said that the private sector fully
supported the automation of the procurement
process through e-procurement, saying that it
would go a long way in aiding the fight
against corruption by eliminating the use of
manual systems which are prone to abuse and
create loopholes for corruption.

22. • KEPSA said corruption a major hindrance to national development,
compromising the quality of public service and infrastructure.
• “The private sector supports the adoption of the digital platform
and calls upon our members and partners to utilize e-procurement
in applying for government tenders,” KEPSA said.
• E-procurement ensures fairness and equality among participants
besides minimizing manipulation. It is the duty of all responsible
corporate citizens to ensure that tax payers get value for money.
• President Uhuru Kenyatta said electronic purchasing would improve
confidence and transparency in government spending, strengthen
supplier relationships and cut costs.

23. • “E-procurement will to a large extent assist in ensuring that public
financial resources are used prudently and for the intended
purposes,” he said. Over the years, we have heard complaints from
Kenyans that the government is being overcharged for goods and
services that it purchases.
• By introducing transparency and accountability through e-
procurement, we expect more or less to eliminate the abuse of our
procurement system.
• Indeed, given the fact that procurement of goods and services
constitute about 50 per cent of our annual budget, implementation
of e-procurement will, therefore, save the government substantial
financial resources.