Purchasing office supplies has become an essential task that procurement management cannot overlook or neglect. It now consumes a considerable amount of time and effort, sometimes exceeding even strategic procurement, which can have some side effects on the growth and efficiency of work within the organization. In other words, this aspect of procurement can become a chronic headache for the organization, more than anyone might think.
The effects of poorly managing office supply purchases can be explained by the “domino effect,” which refers to the ability of one domino, when it falls, to topple the others stacked after it in succession. This means that the impact of a problem or event extends to all aspects of the organization or company. Here, the problem or event is the poor management of office supplies.
While it may seem trivial, the statistics tell a different story:
Employee efficiency can decrease by up to 94% in the event of a shortage or lack of office supplies.
Company profits can increase by 20% thanks to the use of a successful procurement management strategy.
This leads to five side effects of poor office supply management:
1- Decreased employee efficiency
A shortage of office supplies can lead to difficulty in completing tasks and work stoppages to rectify and fix errors, draining the energy and effort of the team and increasing the time required to complete various tasks. A jammed printer, a shortage of pens and inks, and many other problems caused by a shortage of office supplies can disrupt internal operations more than imagined, causing depression and anxiety among employees, which can affect their energy and even their interactions with the company’s customers due to low morale and self-esteem.
2 – Poor impressions of the organization
A happy employee often means a satisfied client, and where there is a shortage and poor quality of office supplies, you cannot expect satisfactory service for your clients in a frustrating and exhausting work environment. Additionally, if you are visiting an office or company for the first time, the first impression of the place accounts for 40% of the likelihood of continuing to deal with this company. Therefore, an office suffering from a shortage of supplies or poor quality cannot give a good impression of its service quality.
3 – Loss of customers
It is evident that losing customers is the expected result of poor service provision and the bad impressions that result from it. Unfortunately, the issue is not only about the client with the bad experience, but also about reducing the company’s chances of recommendations to other clients. The spread of such bad experiences about the company in the business market reduces the potential customers in the future and destroys its business reputation and competitive value in the long run.
4 – Distraction of responsible individuals
While operational purchases often represent only 5% of the total value of a company’s purchases, they consume 75% of the purchasing process volume. This means draining a lot of time and effort that could be used to achieve a significant growth percentage for the company. This often happens due to multiple suppliers of office supplies, the lack of framework agreements, and in the absence of such important agreements, the chaos of transactions increases, and the need for annual price reviews and spending rates increases. All this extra time and effort can be directed towards more important and impactful purchasing and investment operations for the success of the company and the increase of its returns.
5 – Financial losses and weak company growth
After all the negative impacts resulting from the mismanagement of procurement and office supplies, this is the inevitable result. Financial losses have various causes, starting from increased spending on office and operational supplies due to multiple suppliers and inappropriate prices, to poor quality of office tools and their rapid deterioration, as well as the disruption of effective operations within the company due to poor supply or quality of supplies. All these negative impacts, such as decreased efficiency, loss of customers, and negative company image, were sequentially negative elements and a model of an escalating impact of a problem that may seem simple to many entrepreneurs.
Always remember that problems that may seem trivial in the business world can turn into a magnified giant that devours the achievements and future of your project. And that’s what we meant by the domino effect of poor procurement management. To avoid this negative impact on your business, provide all your business needs in one place, ensuring exceptional quality and competitive prices that can make a qualitative leap in the quality and management of your business purchases.
Sources
The Revolution of Office Supplies and Their Impact on Business Performance
Procurement optimisation: What are the positive impacts for companies?
