Canadian Government Executive - Volume 22

/ Canadian Government Executive

// September 2016

Strategy

ment Delivery Model. The role of the pro-

curement officer is to enable achievement

of organizational goals, and the Strategic

Procurement Delivery Model is a mecha-

nism by which this can be achieved. This

model is based on partnership and col-

laboration, and a shared commitment to

delivering on priorities.

The Public Service has been mandated

to innovate, deliver, drive real change,

and facilitate improved outcomes for Ca-

nadians. With this transformative agenda

demanding results, the Procurement

function must be further leveraged and

built to drive efficiencies, enable measur-

able outputs and add value to the Crown.

Procurement organizations have much to

offer in terms of facilitating collaboration,

broad strategies, intelligent decisions and

Deliverology across business lines.

Introduction of the New

Strategic Procurement

Delivery Model at the CBSA

Commodity Management is being en-

abled at the Canada Border Services

Agency (CBSA) through implementing

the Strategic Procurement Delivery Mod-

el described in this article. For security

reasons, the following example describes

the process undertaken without identify-

ing specifics.

A commodity identified had previously

been purchased across the CBSA by indi-

vidual regions. Opportunity existed to stan-

dardize the item being procured, ensure

consistency within the commodity group,

and potentially enable strategic sourcing.

Strategic procurement possibilities avail-

able ranged from simple bulk buys to more

sophisticated approaches including the

creation of a national master standing of-

fer solely for the CBSA’s use, or an omnibus

contracting approach, to provide flexibility

as well as cost and resource efficiencies .

While considering the options avail-

able to strategically procure this com-

modity, the CBSA’s Procurement group

recognized that Strategic Procurement

stretched beyond the boundaries of Con-

tracting, and even Materiel Management.

They identified various stakeholders, each

with a key role to play in an overall stra-

tegic approach, including: Security, Re-

source Management, the program and/or

policy owner for the commodity, the Agen-

cy’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO), and the

Regions (clients).

Procurement led the group in initial dis-

cussions that included:

• The overall efficiency and results for the

Agency that can be gained through Stra-

tegic Procurement;

• The traditional role of procurement (ac-

quisition of goods or services) and the

proposed role of Procurement as a stra-

tegic partner and enabler of efficiencies

and real results for the Agency;

• The conditions required for this oppor-

tunity to become reality, including col-

laboration, communication and commit-

ment to a shared goal;

• Roles and responsibilities of Procure-

ment, commodity managers, and deci-

sion makers;

• The next steps required to implement

the Strategic Procurement Delivery

Model, including identifying a commod-

ity manager, creating a national strategy

for the commodity, and establishing a

commitment to ongoing collaboration in

support of the Agency’s goals.

This experience marks a significant shift

in mindset within the Agency, from task-

based, transactional contracting to viewing

Procurement as a strategic partner who

can enable intelligent, strategic procure-

ment that drives efficiencies and achieves

tangible results for the organization.

Full implementation of the Strategic Pro-

curement Delivery Model is ongoing at the

Agency, and initial response to this trans-

formational undertaking has been posi-

tive. This is heartening for our trail-blazing

Procurement officers at the CBSA, and we

hope it is reassuring and encouraging for

the procurement community and the fed-

eral government as a whole.

essica

ultan

is the Director,

Strategic Procurement and Material

Management Division, Canada Border

Services Agency.

laude

iville

-D

echêne

is the

Manager, Business Practices and

Strategic Procurement, Canada

Border Services Agency.

ing of stakeholder participation, planning

and project objectives, which comprise

Strategic Procurement.

The success of the Strategic Procure-

ment Delivery Model resides in the foun-

dational concept that the procurement

request must reflect planned business re-

quirements. Capacity within the procure-

ment organization must be built to allow

procurement officers to challenge requests

that are not planned, are not clearly tied

to departmental objectives, and/or are du-

plicative. We must also build the business

acumen required to enable and drive or-

ganizational and governmental priorities

by recognizing and acting upon opportu-

nities to deliver strategically.

This is a true paradigm shift. Under this

new model, the Procurement team is man-

dated to perform the challenge function

related to a potential procurement require-

ment prior to a formal contract request be-

ing made. The expectation is not to simply

execute all contracting requests, but rather

the introduction of a critical question: Why?

Neither the understanding of the criti-

cality of Stage III, nor the skills and abili-

ties within the procurement group that

are required to implement it, are new;

rather, it is the formal inclusion of Stage

III within the Strategic Procurement De-

livery Model, and the broad recognition

of Procurement’s increasingly key strate-

gic role in enabling positive business out-

comes, that is novel.

It must be noted that the function of

the Procurement group is not that of gate-

keeper, ultimately charged with deciding

which procurement activities are actioned

by the organization. Rather, The Strategic

Procurement Delivery Model provides a

framework within which Procurement

groups can exercise the opportunity to

challenge the rationale and intended re-

sults for a given procurement action, flag-

ging those requests that warrant further

consideration, either by the commodity

manager responsible for the programmat-

ic approach for the commodity, or Senior

Management, or both.

The ultimate goal of this Strategic Pro-

curement Delivery Model is to understand

the organization’s environment and chal-

lenges and enable true strategic procure-

ment with results that are tied to objectives.

By truly comprehending the larger business

needs and working collaboratively with all

stakeholders, Procurement can add value

through holistic, intelligent, well-informed

advice that enables decision making.

The procurement officer should not, and

cannot, be solely accountable for the deci-

sion making within the Strategic Procure-

The true potential of Strategic Procurement

resides in a new notion: that of Stage III

(which could be referred to as Contract ‘C’).