When young to middle-age couples break up after a period of dating, there’s almost inevitably a rebound relationship, amongst one if not both of the parties (not that any of the two authors of this piece of research would know anything about such a topic, mind you). We’ve heard from others that most people enter rebound relationships with an open mind. Yet we al lknow – from personal experience or supporting our friends through such travails – that the majority of these soirées end up slowly fizzling out or rapidly going up in a blinding inferno. At least the involved parties usually quickly move on to the next thing, realizing years later that the temporary fling had little lasting impact or disruption on their life. Some even end up looking back, reminiscing that they got precisely what they needed out of it.

Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for procurement BPO, even when relationships between company and provider begin for what appear to be solid reasons. For example, if procurement-led savings initiatives come up short or internal focus drifts to specific areas (e.g., direct materials), procurement BPO may very well seem like a viable option. Yet as we all know in our personal lives, merely knowing that you’re looking for something to fill a void, even for a limited period of time, can end up complicating things far more than we initially conceived unless we fully think through the implications of our actions before pulling the trigger – or offer to buy a drink for that chickadee sitting at the bar. That is, unless it’s a rebound relationship and we know exactly what we’re getting into and what we want to get out of it. Procurement BPO should never fall within this realm (metaphorically speaking, of course). Stay with us here for a minute and you’ll see why.

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