By Jon Hansen | Procurement Insights | January 2026
The Pattern Hiding in Plain Sight
Every major supply chain and procurement framework shares a common assumption: organizational readiness exists.
Kaizen assumes employees will participate. SCOR assumes processes can be standardized. Kraljic assumes strategic positioning can be executed. Porter assumes value chain optimization is achievable.
None of them measure whether the organization can actually absorb the change they recommend.
That’s the gap where 60-88% of initiatives fail.
The Framework Comparison
The Critical Insight
Every framework above tells you what to do. None of them tell you whether you can do it.
- Kaizen tells you to improve continuously — but doesn’t measure if your organization can sustain the cultural shift
- Kraljic tells you to segment suppliers strategically — but doesn’t measure if your procurement team can execute differentiated strategies
- SCOR tells you to standardize processes — but doesn’t measure if your silos will actually collaborate
- Porter tells you where competitive advantage lies — but doesn’t measure if you can close the gap between strategy and execution
Phase 0 / HFS is the governance layer these frameworks omit.
It doesn’t compete with them. It determines whether they’ll work.
Success Rate Sources
The Formula
Framework Success = Framework Quality × Organizational Readiness
Every framework above has been refined over decades. Framework quality is high.
But if organizational readiness is 0.3 (typical for organizations below HFS 70), then:
- Kaizen success: 0.85 × 0.3 = 25.5%
- SCOR success: 0.80 × 0.3 = 24%
- Kraljic success: 0.75 × 0.3 = 22.5%
The framework isn’t the variable. Readiness is.
What Phase 0 Measures
Before any framework is applied, Phase 0 / HFS assesses:
- Governance Capability — Can decisions be made and sustained?
- Collaboration Maturity — Can functions actually work together?
- Data Discipline — Is information reliable enough to support the framework?
- Change Absorption — Can the organization sustain new ways of working?
- Knowledge Transfer — Will capability remain when consultants leave?
- Pattern Recognition — Are previous failure patterns still active?
If these score below threshold, no framework will succeed — regardless of how well-designed it is.
The Bottom Line
For 40+ years, we’ve been refining frameworks. Kaizen (1950s), Porter (1980s), Kraljic (1983), SCOR (1996), Lean Six Sigma (2000s).
For 40+ years, implementation failure rates have stayed at 60-80%.
The frameworks aren’t the problem. The missing governance layer is.
Phase 0 / HFS doesn’t replace these frameworks. It determines whether they’ll survive contact with your organization.
Gartner predicts what might happen. Phase 0 reveals what’s already happening. The crash isn’t in the future — initiative failure is happening now.
Procurement Insights
The Missing Governance Layer: Why Every Framework Assumes What None Measure
Posted on January 9, 2026
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By Jon Hansen | Procurement Insights | January 2026
The Pattern Hiding in Plain Sight
Every major supply chain and procurement framework shares a common assumption: organizational readiness exists.
Kaizen assumes employees will participate. SCOR assumes processes can be standardized. Kraljic assumes strategic positioning can be executed. Porter assumes value chain optimization is achievable.
None of them measure whether the organization can actually absorb the change they recommend.
That’s the gap where 60-88% of initiatives fail.
The Framework Comparison
The Critical Insight
Every framework above tells you what to do. None of them tell you whether you can do it.
Phase 0 / HFS is the governance layer these frameworks omit.
It doesn’t compete with them. It determines whether they’ll work.
Success Rate Sources
The Formula
Framework Success = Framework Quality × Organizational Readiness
Every framework above has been refined over decades. Framework quality is high.
But if organizational readiness is 0.3 (typical for organizations below HFS 70), then:
The framework isn’t the variable. Readiness is.
What Phase 0 Measures
Before any framework is applied, Phase 0 / HFS assesses:
If these score below threshold, no framework will succeed — regardless of how well-designed it is.
The Bottom Line
For 40+ years, we’ve been refining frameworks. Kaizen (1950s), Porter (1980s), Kraljic (1983), SCOR (1996), Lean Six Sigma (2000s).
For 40+ years, implementation failure rates have stayed at 60-80%.
The frameworks aren’t the problem. The missing governance layer is.
Phase 0 / HFS doesn’t replace these frameworks. It determines whether they’ll survive contact with your organization.
Gartner predicts what might happen. Phase 0 reveals what’s already happening. The crash isn’t in the future — initiative failure is happening now.
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