Ever wonder what your CEO is thinking? Well, a new study of 443 C-level executives from Saugatuck Technology and Business Week Research Services purports to have the answer. Here it is:

(Click image to enlarge.)

Okay, stop laughing.

There really are some valuable insights buried in that chart — even if they’re not presented in the most coherent manner. (Sound like any CEO’s you know?) Of course, getting the full details and analysis on what’s behind the chart will cost you. The research duo is currently charging $595 for the full report, C-Team Research: Growth and Innovation Driving the Global Business Agenda.

But the report overview and a recent post on SandHill.com from Saugatuck Founder and CEO Bill McNee give a pretty good synopsis. According to the report, growth and innovation are top of mind for C-level executives. In fact, the top five business goals of top execs are all revenue, customer and market share growth related. By comparison, cost control, budget management, and ROI measurements were way down the list of what the C-suite cares about.

Writes McNee: “Revenue growth outpaced both cost control and asset allocation by a 5-to-1 margin as the top business strategy for C-Team executives.”

These findings send a clear message to supply management executives: your CEO doesn’t care about costs. Or, more correctly, cares less about costs than other areas — mainly growth.

The point: If your supply management group is myopically focused on reducing costs, you are misaligned with the strategic business agenda. If you don’t change your current approach and mindset, you’ll forever be viewed as a tactical support function — not a strategic contributor to corporate value.

Winning the minds (and budgets) of company leaders will require you align your sourcing and supplier management straetgies to the key objectives of your business — whether they be creating the next-great technology, captilizing on new sales opportunities in emerging markets, or winning the hearts and wallets of consumers through socially and environmentally responsible business practices.

How? By doing your job. You are the gateway to the innovation inherent in your supply base. You are the scouts on the opportunities and hazards of emerging markets. You understand the cost, performance, and environmental and social implications of your company’s buying decisions (and increasingly those of your suppliers’ buying decisions). Start capitalizing on these strengths.

So stop talking about year-over-year cost reductions. And start developing strategies and metrics on how supply management is helping drive innovation, market expansion, and top-line revenues and profits. Keep a scorecard of your supply team’s contribution to enterprise value. And, most importantly, be sure to share it with your company executives. You’ll be surprised at the doors such value-based thinking will open.

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