- 12
- OCT
- 2011
Social media awaits the arrival of the CPO
Author: Kayleigh Ryan - Categories: Technology & Apps
Back in August my colleague Victoria Barnato wrote a blog post about how procurement can no longer afford to ignore social media. Two months later it seems that social media is still awaiting the arrival of the CPO. Operational-level procurement professionals seem to be embracing social media but the executive level seems slow to respond. What is holding them back?
I recently conducted a study on the extent to which executive-level procurement professionals are actively using social media channels. The long and the short of it is that they aren't. The few that are seem to prefer LinkedIn over other channels.
LinkedIn is positioned at the more professional end of the spectrum. Discussions are encouraged through LinkedIn groups created by members, but are predominantly centred on professional issues and debates. Unlike other social media channels, LinkedIn allows you to search like-minded professionals with whom to discuss common grounds in a professional environment. This is appealing to procurement executives. However, although they may be members of these groups and discussions, they aren't really contributors, but instead play more of a passive role.
Another social media channel that has exploded in the last two years is twitter. Twitter acts as a micro-blogging site, allowing its members to write and read posts known as 'tweets'. Its popularity is growing within the business world as businesses use it to keep their clients instantly updated. However, the twitter wave has yet to fully reach the procurement function. The Mattel case study that Victoria talked about in her blog post demonstrates the positive influence that twitter can have. However, during my study I struggled to find any executive-level procurement professionals using twitter regularly and convincingly. The same can be said for blogging - there are many procurement-focused blogs, but I have yet to come across any written by a current CPO. The fact that these blogs exist suggests that the executive level are reading posts, but have yet to create their own.
So why is the executive level so hesitant to adopt social media? While conducting the scoping calls for the PIU's recent event on social media and SRM in New York and Munich, I noticed a common worry among CPOs: privacy. Many of their experiences of social media have been via their teenage children's use of sites such as Facebook and twitter. Facebook in particular is a predominantly 'social' platform, where people can post comments, photos and videos. Unfortunately, this leaves its users open to undesirable consequences, primarily invasion of privacy. Similarly, twitter seems to carry a reputation as a platform for swapping celebrity stories and gossip. However, its refocus in 2009 to market itself as a 'news and information-strategy provider' has placed it as a key source of breaking news stories.
It seems that executive-level procurement professionals are wary of social media and are unable to yet appreciate its scope and use within the procurement function. Ironically, social media channels such as LinkedIn, twitter and blogging sites are full of procurement journalists, consultants and thought leaders. It cannot be denied that social media is becoming increasingly influential and important and I believe that social media is now where email was 15 to 20 years ago. I do not doubt that at some point procurement will have to embrace social media, but in the meantime the journalists, bloggers, consultants and intelligence providers will just wait for the arrival of the CPOs.
