Question

Discuss your approach to ensure efficiencies in the buying process. Outlines the steps you would take to understand the critical needs of the service lines?

Answer 1

Buying or procurement is the major process in the business. To ensure effective and efficient buying a good businessman has to consider the following points-

1. Think carefully before making a purchase – Cost is reduced when goods are procured according to the needs of the company. Purchasing every order received does not show an effective approach of the buyer. Surveying about the actual needs of the business is more important before buying.

2. Build virtuous supplier relationship - Building a good relationship with suppliers is one of the major aspects of business. Maintaining good supplier relationships boost up the procurement process and makes supplier happy.

3. Expand your network – Taking inputs from other departments also widens the perspective on good suppliers, quality, and pushes projects to completion faster. To speed up processes, building trust, and to increase efficiency expanding the departments of business is necessary.

4. Using analytical skills to make right decisions – Businessman should have strong analytical skills for performing functions such as project planning, vetting vendors and bids, and negotiating the best deals, procurement of goods. Modern contract management platforms have excellent analytics that make gathering metrics and reporting back simple and effective.

5. Sharpen your negotiating skills – Negotiation is also an important part of developing good relationships in a business. Signing a good deal for an organization while keeping suppliers happy can be a good step, but developing strategies to make both parties happy is more important to becoming efficient.

Service line refers to the grouping of products and services related to one particular division of that business.

The steps to understand the critical needs of service lines are as follows:-

1. Assess internal readiness of the department – Before establishing a service line business should have its internal structure ready. When all the products or services are grouped into one service line, the resources have to be employed accordingly.

2. Develop a plan for growth – After creating a service line a proper plan needs to be devised for maintaining the survival and growth of the business.

3. Align with other department leaders – When all the products and services are grouped into one service line, there should an alignment between the product leaders and managers of those products and services.

4. Organizing the work – After the formation of service line, work is required to be organized accordingly in order to ensure smooth survival of the business.

5. Achieve improvements - Once the organisation of work is done, the business should only focus on the output and its improvements. At initial level there may not be much increase in the quality or quantity of output but after implementing a few measures improvement can be observed.