By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Design end-to-end category strategies aligned to business priorities
• Apply advanced spend, demand, and market analysis
• Conduct supplier economics and cost-driver analysis
• Select and govern sourcing levers beyond price (TCO, value engineering, innovation)
• Manage category risk, resilience, and continuity
• Integrate ESG and sustainability into category decisions
• Drive stakeholder alignment and change management
• Measure category performance using advanced KPIs and value tracking

This course is intended for:

• Category Managers (Senior / Lead)
• Strategic Sourcing Managers
• Procurement & Supply Chain Managers
• Commercial and Contract Managers
• Supply Chain Transformation Leaders
• Procurement Excellence / PMO Teams
• High-potential procurement professionals preparing for leadership roles

Prerequisite: Basic to intermediate category management experience

The program uses a high-impact, practitioner-led approach, including:

• Expert-led masterclasses
• Advanced case studies (multi-industry)
• Hands-on analytical workshops
• Group strategy labs and peer reviews
• Scenario simulations and role play
• Category strategy capstone project

Participants will build a real category strategy during the course.

Day 1 – Advanced Category Management Frameworks

Topics:

• Evolution from sourcing to category strategy
• Category management maturity models
• Aligning category objectives with corporate strategy
• Defining category scope, demand, and boundaries
• Advanced stakeholder mapping and governance
• Category policy, decision rights, and compliance

Workshop:

• Category diagnostic & maturity assessment

Day 2 – Advanced Spend, Demand & Market Intelligence

Topics:

• Advanced spend analytics and segmentation
• Demand forecasting and demand management levers
• Market intelligence techniques:
• Supply market structures
• Capacity, cost drivers, and trends
• Porter’s Five Forces for categories
• Should-cost and clean-sheet costing concepts

Workshop:

• Market and cost-driver analysis for a selected category

Day 3 – Strategic Sourcing Levers & Supplier Economics

Topics:

• Beyond price: TCO and value-based sourcing
• Strategic sourcing levers:
• Bundling/unbundling
• Specification optimization
• Make vs Buy
• Global vs local sourcing
• Supplier economics and margin logic
• Negotiation strategies for complex categories
• Innovation sourcing and supplier collaboration

Simulation:

• Advanced sourcing and negotiation scenario

Day 04 – Risk, Resilience & ESG in Category Strategies

Topics:

• Category risk identification and prioritization
• Supply continuity and resilience planning
• Dual sourcing, buffering, and flexibility strategies
• Managing geopolitical, financial, and operational risks
• Integrating ESG and sustainability:
• Ethical sourcing
• Carbon and lifecycle considerations
• Supplier ESG performance
• Regulatory and reputational risk management

Workshop:

• Building a category risk & resilience plan

Day 5 – Performance, Value Realization & Strategy Presentation

Topics:

• Category KPIs and value tracking
• Savings vs value realization
• Governance and performance reviews
• Change management and stakeholder buy-in
• Category roadmap and continuous improvement
• Digital tools and analytics supporting category management

Capstone Project:

• Develop and present a complete Advanced Category Strategy:
• Analysis
• Strategic levers
• Risk & ESG
• Value targets
• Implementation roadmap

CDGA attendance certificate will be issued to all attendees completing minimum of 80% of the total course duration.