Introduction

Abstract

In the last almost two years, the global economic situation has been literally upset by the pandemic created by Covid-19, highlighting the importance of the purchasing process and the procurement function, which were the crucial points to enable a structured business continuity plan.

The Procurement managers have increasingly felt the need to confront each other to find new methods to deal with new and unexpected market situations. For this reason, ADACI has organized continuous opportunities for discussion, often carried out in webinar mode, such as the CPO Lounge Community and the Negotiorum Fucina. In addition, the search for different, new and innovative solutions has led to the search for collaboration with university professors who are engaged in scientific research in various fields and, thus, analyse corporate paradigms of strategic behaviour in the management of supply chains from different perspectives.

The Magister conference organized in collaboration and during the SIMA conference on 7/9/20 was indeed a meeting point between university culture and business managers in the framework of the ADACI SMART project.

For more than 30 years, researchers, managers and consultants have discussed and pleaded the need for a transition from the traditional vision of the purchasing function - considered a pure cost centre with mainly administrative responsibilities - towards a strategic approach to supply chain management, a real opportunity for the redefinition of entire intra-company relationships (e.g. between the company and its suppliers).... to be continued