Sustainable Procurement

Jonathan O'Brien is the CEO of Positive Purchasing Ltd, the international procurement and negotiation consultancy and training provider, and is based in Plymouth, UK. With over 30 years of experience, he has helped global organizations increase their purchasing capability through training, education and working directly with practitioners and executive teams. He is also the author of Category Management in Purchasing, Negotiation for Procurement and Supply Chain Professionals, Supplier Relationship Management and The Buyer's Toolkit, all published by Kogan Page.

Chapter - 00: Introduction;


Section - ONE: Our current situation;


Chapter - 01: Situation planet Earth 1 - the planet;
Chapter - 02: Situation planet Earth 2 - people;
Chapter - 03: Homosapiens - extinct in a hundred years?;


Section - TWO: The sustainability imperative;


Chapter - 04: Introducing sustainable procurement;
Chapter - 05: The business case for sustainable procurement;
Chapter - 06: Setting the direction for sustainability;


Section - THREE: Sustainable Procurement;


Chapter - 07: Assessing the supply base;
Chapter - 08: Prioritizing risks, impacts and opportunities;
Chapter - 09: Evaluating potential sustainable procurement projects;
Chapter - 10: Making what we buy sustainable;
Chapter - 11: Driving sustainability in our suppliers;
Chapter - 12: Audit and assessment of suppliers;
Chapter - 13: Driving sustainability in the supply chain;
Chapter - 14: Making it happen, measuring outcomes and driving success;
Chapter - 15: Appendices

"This will undoubtedly become a core and classic book for practitioners and students - and indeed for anyone interested in the contribution procurement can make to sustainability issues. The practical advice, tools and templates are particularly impressive and extensive and will prove invaluable for many. There is certainly no excuse now for anyone to say "I don't know how to implement sustainable procurement"."

"An essential and highly practical handbook for driving responsible purchasing practices - helps make sense of the complex topic of transforming buying through the lens of sustainability."

"Jonathan addresses Procurement's need to work with the supply networks on how they think about Environmental Sustainability. Our need to build our supply networks to be robust to support the environmental challenges is critical."

"As concerns about anthropogenic climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution and social impacts have become more common, global organisations both in the public and private sectors have shifted to embrace sustainable practices and policies. However, many organisations have none or under-developed sustainable procurement programmes and thus are ill-equipped to achieve these ambitions. Jonathan O'Brien has provided the much-needed insights and practical tools to help organisations and procurement professionals define and implement sustainable procurement programmes that yield desired outcomes for all stakeholders, whilst simultaneously uplifting the mission of procurement as an enabler of strategic intents."

"Talk of sustainability is not new, but operational progress continues to lag behind aspiration and vision. In this passionately written book, Jonathan O'Brien makes the case for the sustainability imperative, demonstrates why progress cannot be made without coordinated efforts from procurement and supply chain professionals, and turns previously abstract guidance into an actionable, achievable mission."

"Sustainability is an era defining opportunity for procurement. It is the strategic imperative that will turn failed SRM initiatives into successful programmes and will cement action and transformation for the betterment of the function and for the future of our planet. This book acts as a practical roadmap that translates greenwashing and greenwishing into evidence based action. A must read for all procurement and sustainability professionals today."

"Sustainable procurement is a topic on every procurement leader's agenda, but the path forward is often unclear. Jonathan provides the information needed to understand the options and create a compelling path forward."