From marketing to real estate, procurement officers need to be jacks-of-all-trades, saddled with the huge responsibility of dealing with the many third-parties needed to run an organization. Today, host Rosemary Coates interviews the COO of 9thWonder, Mary Ann Brennan, about why procurement is so vital to modern companies. We open by touching on Mary Ann’s career highlights before talking about her procurement roles working for adidas and Mattel. After exploring the differences between direct and indirect procurement, we dive into how successful procurement leads to horizontal integration into other departments. We then chat about supply chain innovations over the past two decades and how procurement fits in with businesses at the different stages of their maturation. Mary Ann shares her insights into what it takes to excel at procurement, along with the importance of building partnerships. Reflecting on her current job as COO of 9th Wonder Agency, Mary Ann discusses why talent is crucial to your company and how your culture is a key tool in managing talent. Near the end of the episode, we talk about her teaching, why you need to change alongside your customers, and why procurement officers benefit by learning from different industries. Tune in to find out more about procurement practices from Mary Ann, a global leader in the procurement field.

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