Do Your Suppliers Share Your Values?

Whenever we purchase any good or service the first two things that we usually consider are the quality and the price. Our perception of both tells us whether what we are purchasing offers us value for money or not. The idea of what value for money looks like varies from person to person and therefore company to company.

There are however many more considerations that contribute to the perceived value than just quality and price that influence any buying decision. These are developed over many years, heavily influenced by our upbringing at both home and school and our experiences at work. They ultimately form the basis of the core values that we all try and live by and do business by.

Different values

Some of the other values that may be considered when evaluating suppliers, apart from quality and price, include their approach to:

• Innovation
• Collaboration and partnerships
• Environmental impact
• Inclusion and diversity
• Social Value

The values that a company chooses to put at the core of its business will influence everything it does and ultimately how its perceived by its own customers and suppliers. Therefore, these values are becoming increasingly important as differentiators between companies and are being given more priority when choosing which suppliers to work with. The values that are important will vary from company to company and its these differences that effectively creates a market with a mixture of buyers and sellers.

A company with one set of values will want to work with and support other companies who share their values so that these values are promoted in everything that they do.

Conclusion

There are many different values that influence how businesses select the suppliers they work with. As every company’s values vary it’s important to better understand their own core values so that they can be reflected in the suppliers they choose to work with to ensure that the values are upheld as much as possible.

To learn more about how you can put your company’s core values at the heart of all your sourcing, contract and supplier management activities go to oboloo.com. oboloo enables you to be supplier smart.