Recent Release | 16 Jul 2021

Agile Procurement Insights Research: Elevating the strategic value of procurement

Thought Leadership Team

Oxford Economics

Oxford Economics and SAP conducted robust global research to understand Procurement’s influence on the organisation, the current state of supplier collaboration, and the impact of technology and process digitisation in the procurement function. We wanted to find out whether companies that embrace technology and closer supplier collaboration are more agile and can respond more effectively to disruption. In June 2020, we surveyed 1,000 procurement and supply chain executives responsible for direct spend, indirect spend, and management of contingent labour and services providers.

About the team

Our Thought Leadership team produces original, evidence-based research made accessible to decision-makers and opinion leaders. Principals for this project included:

Edward Cone
Edward Cone

Editorial Director, Thought Leadership

+1 (336) 337 3127

Edward Cone

Edward Cone

Editorial Director, Thought Leadership

New York, United States

Editorial Director Edward Cone oversees global research programs for our Thought Leadership group. As Technology Practice Lead he works with clients such as Google, Accenture, IBM, SAP, and many others. His areas of focus include Artificial Intelligence, the impact of technology on business performance, and healthcare organizations.

Edward joined the firm in 2012 after more than two decades as a business and technology journalist based in New York, Paris, and North Carolina, including stints as an editor and writer at various Ziff Davis magazines (CIO Insight, Baseline), a contributing editor at Wired, and a staff writer at Forbes.

Edward also wrote a weekly newspaper opinion column for many years in his hometown of Greensboro, NC and authored a semi-popular blog. He has contributed to a bewildering variety of magazines and papers on topics ranging from politics to rock climbing and was a frequent speaker and organizer at new media conferences across the country. Honors for his work include the 2020 Rybczynski Prize, awarded for the best essay on economics by Society of Professional Economists, and various awards from the American Society of Business Publication Editors and the North Carolina Press Association. He has a BA from Haverford College.

Sundus Alfi

Senior Research Manager

+1 917 746 6820

Sundus Alfi

Senior Research Manager

New York, United States

Sundus manages research programs for the Thought Leadership team, focusing on healthcare, the future of work, the data economy, and diversity and inclusion. She is involved in all aspects of research, from drafting hypotheses and designing global executive, employee, and consumer surveys to analyzing large datasets and reporting on the results in briefing papers and graphics. She also has experience conducting interviews, writing case studies, and presenting her research in webinars.

Sundus graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2018 with degrees in Public Policy and Economics.

Related Services

Post

The economic impact of abandoning the WTO

Oxford Economics have been commissioned by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) to provide an independent assessment of the economic impact of WTO dissolution. This report details our findings and the assumptions underpinning our analysis.

Find Out More

Post

The economic impact of the sports activities of public service media

This study shows how the sports activities of public service media supported €4.5 billion of GDP and 57,000 jobs across 31 European countries in 2022. The report also highlights wider economic benefits of public service media sports coverage, such as the way in which it leverages sponsorship income for sports bodies.

Find Out More

Post

Global Trade Education: The role of private philanthropy

Global trade can amplify economic development and poverty alleviation. Capable leaders are required to put in place enabling conditions for trade, but currently these skills are underprovided in developing countries. For philanthropists, investing in trade leadership talent through graduate-level scholarships is an opportunity to make meaningful contributions that can multiply and sustain global economic development.

Find Out More