It is only a few months since Mark Perera and I had our first discussion about Procurement with Purpose and how we could help to support this movement to use corporate and government procurement spending to “save the world”.
But even compared to 2 or 3 weeks ago, the world seems to have changed totally. Will we get used to no football on the TV? Not visiting Grannie? Not going out for a drink after work with our colleagues? Indeed, not even seeing our colleagues in the flesh for weeks on end, just getting used to video calls and Google Docs. Or, of course, if we work in healthcare or the food supply chain, working 7 days a week to keep the population safe and fed.
I’m having some moments of doubt right now about procurement with purpose. There is every chance that we are going into what could be quite a deep global recession, despite the impressive efforts of our governments to head off that threat with financial stimulus. That economic disaster will change priorities and approaches, without a doubt.
Now I’m old enough to remember several previous recessions, going right back to the UK’s 3-day week of 1974, which left me revising for my O Level mock exams by candlelight, I seem to remember (for our younger readers – GCSEs). But even then, we didn’t have our exams cancelled, and I really feel for the 16, 18 and 21-year-olds of today.
And generally, when times get tough, organisations revert to cost saving priorities. When my firm is in survival mode, the temptation is to hammer my suppliers, maybe delay payments, be ruthless to get the best possible deal, and do anything that might just help to keep my own staff, owners and customers happy.
The concern is that the positive steps we have seen in recent years around sustainable and purposeful procurement will go into reverse. Who cares about de-forestation or modern slavery when millions of jobs in the developed world are at stake? And economic issues cause deaths too; poverty drives mortality rates just as much as the coronavirus does.
As I say, I’m wrestling with these possibilities, challenges and concerns. I’ll be back soon with a more considered view on where this is going, and I do hold out the possibility that this pandemic might in the long run actually have some positive impact in terms of responsible and purposeful business. But… it might not. So give me another week, let the anxiety levels drop a touch maybe, a few more bottles of Portuguese red to calm the nerves, and I’ll make some predictions about Procurement with Purpose, post Covid-19.