CSCS International

Supply chain is a chain of suppliers. Regardless where you are in the supply chain, you'll have to interact with suppliers. The ability to identify and pick the right suppliers is crucial. This is the core skill set we evaluate candidates every time for positions in purchasing, sourcing, logistics and supply management.

Real estate is about location, location and location. Same applies to international procurement offices (IPOs): the location has a big impact on people, taxation and logistics infrastructure that are critical to your IPO's success.

According to Ariba, approximately 48% of the word's largest corporations have established international procurement offices (IPO). This figure is typically higher in industries with history of cost pressure, such as automobile, consumer goods and electronics. In the early days, many IPOs were set up to handle tactical things like purchasing order transactions. As supply base in low cost regions matures, more and more IPOs are commissioned with strategic tasks such as supplier identification, selection, audit and performance management. This requires a high level of expertise for the IPO staff. The people you hire for your IPO will make it or break it.

Experienced bilingual professionals are rare commodities in China. It is simple: There are simply not many out there. For the same reason, they are typically not on the job market. If you want to build a strong local team, how would you get them? And even if you hire a headhunter to cold call them, how would the headhunter get their attention as they get such calls almost every week promising them better opportunities?