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Doubts raised over business travel procurement transparency
More than half of corporate travel suppliers (60%) believe organisations are not fully transparent when involved in supplier negotiations.
And half of buyers do not do enough to support suppliers once a contract is in place, according to research by the Institute of Travel Management.
More than a quarter of buyers accepted that they mostly or always fail to provide a full picture.
The main areas in which transparency is lacking are leakage (personnel booking outside policy), internal communications channels, company politics and the degree of account management required. according to the ITM survey.
Commenting on the poll of buyers and suppliers’ perceptions of each other’s roles in the business travel procurement process, ITM executive director Paul Tilstone said: “No-one is suggesting that buyers mislead suppliers on purpose but buyers need to be more diligent in their calculations and more open about the internal deficiencies of their organisations in managing their travel programmes.”
Buyers’ failure to adequately support travel programmes once the contract is awarded can be interpreted as a direct consequence of the commoditisation of travel.
Colin Goldney, managing director of ITM research partner Argate Consulting said: “It appears that suppliers feel that many procurement professionals have tended to treat travel as they do stationery or fleet management; as a commodity which needs little ongoing management.
“This can often lead to buyers not setting enough time aside to ensure that the objectives set during the RFP process are subsequently achieved.”
Tilstone added: “The procurement professional’s traditional role focuses on the negotiation and contracting of suppliers. In the same way that a supplier introduces an account manager when the sales person’s job is done, perhaps it is time the corporate introduced a contract manager after procurement’s job is done.
“Procurement has finally begun to understand that buying travel is not simple a case of negotiation and contracting of a commodity. Rather it is an ongoing programme of relationship, change management and effective communication.“
Report by Phil Davies
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