'The CPO: Transforming Procurement in the Real World' - Book Review

This was truly a first for me - a novel written on procurement transformation. Yet, as a novel it also crosses the boundary of a text book with most of the chapters cleverly summarising the key 'CPO Best Practices'. It is written by four A.T. Kearney consultants - a very clever marketing ploy.

As a novel it's not going to win the Man Booker but it is an easy read and does have a reasonable narrative. Sometimes contrived, yet I found myself wanting to keep reading to find out what happened next.

It is certainly a case study in procurement transformation and a good catch-up/revision for practitioners. It would be a useful 'book club' discussion topic for any procurement team. Ideal as a introductory text for a Strategic Procurement degree. With some useful tools in performance management and category management  outlined. I can't see me recommending it to a CX though.

It's a bit misleading to say the book has 226 pages. Deletion of the many blank pages and excessive 'comic strip abstracts' to each of the 39 very short chapters, you may really only have somewhere around 175 pages! That raises another point: what purpose do the abstract/comic strip sections serve? I felt they broke the rhythm of the book and after the first few chapters opted not to read them - that provided a better read.

I will not remotely share any of the plot as the book is worth reading and with the benefit of online purchasing you can pick it up for less than £10 including postage and receive within a week. Yes, it is worth a tenner.