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One stage of Strategic Sourcing initiatives that is often overlooked is the project kickoff. Regardless of your role within the organization, it is important to make sure that you are not operating in isolation. Others should develop an understanding of the goals and objectives of your initiative.

The executive team should be aware of your initiative and offer their support to see it through. The reason is simple: change does not always come easy. Over time, you will find that the biggest roadblock to achieving savings is not the supply base. Suppliers rarely offer the best price possible. As such, they're always inadvertently paving the way to savings. In many cases, the greatest impediment turns out to be implementing change within your organization. All too often, Procurement or Finance teams uncover an opportunity to reduce costs substantially and, naturally, believe that the facts will speak for themselves. They come to realize, however, that it takes much more effort and convincing than they initially thought. Even with the best business case, you will find that having the support of the executive team or other higher‐ups within the organization pays off.

While you probably will not get the attention of the executive team on a weekly basis, try to establish a monthly meeting to report status and present findings. At the very least, you should be providing a regular, written status update. This way, if you run into a roadblock that requires their attention, they will already be aware of your progress.

End users and other interested parties should be aware of the initiative as well. As we discuss later, end users have a stake in the project. After all, they are dealing with the day‐to‐day realities of working with the supply base. Try to form a cross‐functional team that includes members of several different departments: Finance, Procurement, Operations, and other affected parties. Having a cross‐functional team allows you to get the perspectives of a diverse group within the organization and aids in consensus building as initiatives continue.

Depending on the scope and breadth of the initiative, you will likely assign other resources to help collect data and perform research. These resources could include members of the cross‐functional team, end users, or others within your organization, and they should participate in the kickoff and meet at least biweekly throughout the project. During these meetings, members of the team can report status, troubleshoot issues, and solicit advice on current initiatives.