Clinical Investigators Market Procurement Intelligence Report

A changing ecosystem within the Clinical and Medical Support Services market also affects the procurement process, cost dynamics and supplier attractiveness for the buyers of Clinical Investigators. Companies that serve multiple markets are increasingly facing the dynamism in regulatory frameworks across countries. Coupled with increased costs across the value chain, suppliers are hard pressed to alter their business models and pricing structures to remain relevant in the market.

New locations and vendors are emerging as cost effective suppliers of Clinical Investigators, offering an opportunity to widen the supplier base and gain further negotiation leverage with incumbent suppliers.

Buyers that have multiple locations under management are increasingly opting for a single supplier who can deliver the preferred solutions in a consistent manner across locations. Often suppliers with a physical presence across key geographies are preferred in such cases.

Clinical Investigators procurement best practices are moving towards a level of sophistication which is typically seen in traditional procurement categories. Category managers now have an attractive opportunity to adapt the best practices seen within this category as well as those being leveraged in other non-related categories. This report summarizes the best practices picked from across multiple categories that could work well for category managers involved with Clinical Investigators procurement strategy.

For example, Buyers should look to minimize the contract-related risks where unfavorable credit terms may severly penalize buyers for delayed payments or entitle the supplier to demand pre-payments or shorten the payment terms. Although these clauses are not very common in the category, suppliers may still insist on them, especially in situations where buyers' liquidity or financial health is in question.

Large organizational buyers can leverage their scale of operations to initiate competitive bidding between suppliers. Competitive bidding would enable buyers to have a better visibility of the market prices and may help identify suppliers that offer the most competitive price offering viz-a-viz other players.

Category managers must ensure that they have clearly identified and listed down potential negotiation levers to maximize the value of their category spend before entering into contract-related discussions with service providers. Common negotiation levers to maximize value include deadlines, terms related to payments, (including fees, expenses, and payment timelines) and assistance required from the buyer's organization.

Clinical Investigators procurement managers also need to proactively identify and mitigate potential risks that can arise in the supply chain or contracts for Clinical Investigators procurement. Some examples include: