Problem Set and Course of Investigation

With this quote, the mission of this thesis has been defined. The above demand literally reflects supply management's recent situation: CFOs require more than just savings being reported; they want to see savings' financial impact on the corporate bottom line. CFOs want to be shown the money, accomplished through supply management's daily practices as an expression of the function's corporate value contribution. “The P&L impact has become more important since 2006”, as a respondent from the banking sector indicated in the conducted survey. However, a comprehensive approach, which makes supply management's bottom line impact tangible from a holistic point of view, could not be found – neither in literature nor in practice. Thus, supply management's journey starts here – in the search for an adequate approach to measure its bottom line impact precisely and comprehensively.