Author Jonathan O'Brien Talks all Things Procurement

Jonathan O’Brien, CEO at Positive Purchasing, has written a number of weighty books for procurement and supply chain professionals: Category Management in Purchasing, Negotiating for Purchasing Professionals, and Supplier Relationship make up the ‘big three.’

When I interviewed O’Brien, I asked him about the role that his books play in the creative process and he told me, “It is a constant writing process… I just kept writing and kept adding to it and gradually it kind of formed. The lovely thing now is that I have this body of work and it’s about making sure it continues to be relevant.”

I took full advantage of the opportunity to pick O’Brien’s brain on all things procurement, and in addition to discussing the recently released 3rd Edition of Category Management in Purchasing (read my review here), I asked him:

• Why ‘purchasing’ rather than ‘procurement’ in the titles of your books?
• What conditions are pre-requisites for a strategic procurement function?
• Can procurement change at the rate required for us to stay ahead of the world around us?

For more about my conversation with O'Brien and what it means for procurement as a whole, read Conversation with the Author: Jonathan O'Brien on Why His Revised Editions Add but Don't Remove Information on Buyers Meeting Point.