Making The Cut: Meet The CIPS Awards Judges Panel

Being the bloodstream of the organisation, procurement professionals were thrust into the spotlight in the wake of the pandemic, pushing supply chain teams to the limit as they faced first-hand disruptions and immense changes in business operations. Those who embraced unconventional opportunities for change, using creativity, tenacity and multiple resources to radically revamp the business or find solutions for challenges that would have otherwise seemed impossible have proven themselves as critical assets and chief change makers within the business.

The CIPS Asia Excellence in Procurement Awards recognises the achievements and innovative stories of individuals and teams from across the procurement and supply chain spectrum. A key event in the calendars of procurement leaders throughout the region since it’s launch back in 2018 - the awards has grown a reputation as a benchmark for excellence and is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious ways to gain recognition from peers.

Therefore, it’s an understandable honour to judge such an illustrious event but by no means an easy task, especially given the great triumphs that arose out of the uncertainty of last year. As this year’s entries came flooding in, our curiosity grew - what does it mean to sit on the judging panel, how does one discern who should win such a prestigious accolade and what do the judges look for when accessing numerous applications?

These are the questions we posed to the judges panel to discover the unique formulas and sets of criteria used to crown the winners!!

Meet our judges…

Let us meet this year’s judging panel - a collective force of elite professionals who each bring a wealth of expertise and experience from a multitude of different sectors - ranging from banking to healthcare, telecoms to industrial supply.

First up, we spoke to judge Mat Langley, Global Procurement Head ESG at CBRE. Matt took on his position as Global Procurement Head ESG in January of this year, focusing on developing a green and diverse supply chain and increasing the diverse range of suppliers. Prior to this, Mat was responsible for $100 billion of direct and influenced global supplier spend across over a hundred thousand suppliers for CBRE. Being well versed in building solid supply foundations and using innovative technology platforms to ensure operational excellence - he’s more than qualified to judge applications for this year.

What are your ‘top 3 ‘do’s and ‘don’ts’ when making an application? “Do think through and position how this is innovative and game changing. The ‘why and how’ are as important as ‘what’ and presentation, formatting and clear writing do make a difference” Mat told us.

What makes you excited about judging the awards? “Seeing how teams and companies are innovating, collaborating and developing new solutions to challenges they are facing.”

What will you be looking for in the applications? “While I come from a strategic sourcing and category management background, my more recent focus has been technology and operations and now ESG. So really looking at everything but with a more digital and ESG lens.”

Next up, we asked judge Kobu Kotaraju, International Procurement Leader at Samsung C&T Corporation his thoughts on why he’s excited to be part of the judges panel.

“It is the opportunity to understand the myriad of challenges or new initiatives from various industries and regions that the procurement fraternity faces. Appreciating the applicants' hard and soft-skill, wisdom, and leadership journey in overcoming these challenges”.

Kobu has thirty-seven years worth of experience in procurement, global sourcing, commercial and contractual management, project management and negotiation. He told us his ‘top do’s and don’ts’...

“Do start with a clearly defined "problem statement" or "initiative” and include your action and leadership in the resolution processes. Highlight your achievement (stakeholders endorsement is encouraged) and don't use exact testimonial wording for different stakeholders, don’t forget to proofread and leave your entry application to the last minute!” is the advice he gives applicants.

What are you looking for in the entries?

“A clearly defined problem statement, your (team) specifics action undertaken, the challenges faced, and how you (your team) overcame the challenges. How have the achievements/results positively impacted your organisation. Stakeholders' endorsement is encouraged.”

Jonathan Cheung, Chairman and CEO of Global Wellness Force shared that “as the senior practitioner in the Asia region, I am honoured to be on the CIPS Asia Awards Judging Panel especially to have the chance to review the submissions and provide my endorsements to the submissions and select the Winners. Furthermore, I can keep my engagement in the Procurement and Supply professions and gain awareness and knowledge of the innovative approach and best practices from the submissions.”

Jonathan’s top ‘do’s’ include a few simple recommendations - ‘be relevant, have clear benefits and impact’.

As for his ‘don'ts’ - “don’t just have internal stakeholders to provide endorsements and nothing too theoretical”.

Jonathan is looking for “walk on water” and “breaking the glass ceiling” entries and “stand out, clear winners!”

Christina Ooi, Chief Procurement Officer, Asia Pacific at Air Liquide is responsible for spearheading the Group Procurement transformation and improvement plan which includes streamlining the internal processes and systems through change management. Bringing decades of corporate management experience in various Asia Pacific regional senior positions, Christina has successfully developed and implemented transformational strategies in various organisations she has been a part of and won accolades and recognition from the procurement fraternity, both globally and in the Asia Pacific region.

When we asked Christina about her ‘do’s’ - she told us “Do understand WHY you’re submitting an entry, write the story yourself, from your heart rather than getting someone else who was not part of the experience to write it for you and make sure you articulate it carefully, reflect on your own story again only this time, put it down in writing in a compelling manner”.

When it comes to her don’ts...the advice she gave was clear “don't send in entries for the sake of doing it! No success story or war story is the same for every award category. Avoid the "copy and paste" approach and don't do an information or data dump in your entries.”

And what excites her the most about judging for the awards...

“the opportunity to contribute my professional experiences and learning in the judging process with the sole objective of raising the professional bar in procurement, every time, all the time.”

She’s looking for “compelling real experiences told within the given criteria which give me goosebumps and "Aha" moments when I read them” and looks for examples of with “high integrity and ethical standard even if no one is looking”.

Last up, we asked Mahbub Ahmed Chowdhury, First Vice President and Head of Procurement at The City Bank Limited. Mahbub has an impressive 26 year career history as an experienced Supply Management professional with AXIATA and currently at City Bank, Dhaka. He’s passionate about operational efficiencies and innovative People Leadership.

Mahbub told us he’ll be looking for those who are “implementing new ideas or industries best practice which have specific outcomes that impact the organisation bottom line (people, process & profit)” and that “successful procurement professional should have the ability to adopt the changes and technology - applicant’s “should know the details category, should be brief and demonstrate the outcome and submit evidence” when making their application.

If you are keen to discover who the judges selected as the winner’s this year and what makes the CIPS Asia Excellence in Procurement Awards an unmissable event in the procurement calendar - join us at ProcureCon Asia, Equarius Hotel, Singapore from the 5th - 7th July.