Strengthening the drivers

When focusing on the drivers, there were clearly two themes: the achievable benefits and the tough competition that dominated the supporting forces. Whereas the benefits can be seen only as an internal driver, the competition covers both internal and external sources as the competition itself comes outside the company, but also a shared need for increasing the competitiveness exists inside the company. As those drivers play a significant role in the current force field, it is reasonable to focus on them and their role when considering how to enforce the positive effects of the drivers. When it comes to strengthening the drivers in general, the interviewees saw the role of communication crucial in order to take the full advantage of the drivers. On the other hand, the role of the two main themes, benefits and competition, may differ in the change process. Therefore, in order to utilise them as efficiently as possible, it is crucial to identify in which stage of the change they are the most effective.

Figure 16 structures the role of the main drivers and illustrates how they can be strengthened.

Figure 16. Strengthening the drivers in the different stages of change

Firstly, there is a need to unfreeze the current state, which typically requires some trigger in order to get the change started. In that respect, the acknowledged competitive situation can act as a significant stimulating force since several interviewees acknowledged its importance as a justification why category management needs to be implemented in the case company. Hence, to utilise the force fully, the competitive situation and the need for increasing competitiveness must be communicated widely inside the company so that the shared need can spread even wider in the company. Regarding the widespread communication, another identified driver, the strategic fit, may provide help as the performance management programs, also regarding procurement and logistics, have a significant role in the strategy. As the strategy is communicated widely and continuously in the case company, the communication can significantly increase the shared need for increasing the competitiveness. In addition, interviewee 21 also mentioned the role of group-level category management as a differentiating factor from the smaller local competitors: “We are a large company. We have more overhead costs than the smaller companies, and we should try to get some volume discount out of it that we are a big company. (…) So, I think for a large company like us, it is a must to find ways that we could use our size.” The comment is a good example of a differentiation message that could be used in the communication when expanding the shared need and taking full advantage of it.

Whereas the competition factor can be used to trigger the change, the role of achievable benefits is twofold. First of all, visualising the possible benefits that can be achieved through category management can be used in a similar way to trigger the change as many interviewees noted that showing and communicating the benefits would be crucial to get the business on-boarded in category management and to get them believing in the approach. On the other hand, when the case company has the first results of category management, many interviewees saw crucial to communicate the first success stories so that wider audience can see what has been achieved. As interviewee 6 mentioned, the success stories often create a positive feedback loop that enforces the implementation further. Thus, when the future state with some benefits has been achieved, it is still important to show and communicate the benefits so that the future state can be frozen and the benefits generated also in the future. Therefore, benefits can be utilised continuously in the change process, but in order to strengthen their effect, they must be communicated efficiently. Interviewee 41 crystallised the importance of communicating the benefits well: “Maybe they [benefits] are obvious for us, but then it is also good to highlight them for others so that we can gather the volumes together, because the volumes of course interest the vendors.” Hence, even though the achievements are obvious for the procurement personnel, procurement must ensure that also others understand them.

To conclude, the key aspect in strengthening the drivers of category management implementation seems to be effective communication that in case of driving forces should be widespread as the commitment and support from the business operations is needed to realise the benefits in the end. However, then another important question relates to how to make the communication the most effective. Several interviewees emphasised that in order to be successful and powerful the communication should be based on facts and data as much as possible. When the message has strong and clear evidence, it will be accepted more easily, which in the end will make it effective and enables changes in the behaviour. Therefore, it seems that the role of communication and planning it carefully should not be underestimated when strengthening the drivers.