ISM members to vote on membership expansion proposal
Upcoming vote will determine if ISM membership restrictions are lifted and membership is opened up to salespeople
Dave Hannon -- Purchasing, 10/29/2009 12:07:06 PM
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The results of an upcoming membership vote will determine if the Institute for Supply Management alters its bylaws to remove its last membership restriction, which prohibits salespeople from becoming members.
ISM's Jean McHale, public relations manager, recently told Purchasing.com that in the annual membership vote, which will be conducted from December 3 to January 14, members will vote on a proposed ISM bylaw change "opening up membership to anyone who has an interest in supply management...to better reflect the changing nature of the supply management profession."
McHale says the move is not as dramatic a step away from its roots as some may think. "ISM has not limited its membership to purchasing/procurement titles for some time," she says. "ISM already considers anyone interested in the field of supply management to be eligible for membership." Currently the only restriction on membership in the ISM bylaws states anyone can be a member provided that person is not primarily engaged in sales activity.
If approved, the bylaw change would allow salespersons to be members of ISM and attend functions, but not actively "sell" at such functions. The bylaws would maintain their current clause that "prohibits persons from soliciting business on their own behalf or on behalf of their employer during any ISM activity," says McHale. "The ISM board of directors is highly supportive of this clause."
What will it take to pass the proposal? McHale explains that under its current rules, any membership vote requires a minimum of 1,000 votes (its web site currently lists ISM as having 40,000 members). Once that 1,000 vote minimum is met, the outcome is determined by the majority of the votes cast. If the 1,000 vote minimum is not reached, then there is no quorum and nothing changes-the bylaws remain as they are currently written.
An ISM affiliate president tells Purhcasing.com that an informal poll found that roughly 20% of ISM affiliate groups already allow salespeople to be members of their affiliate.
The broader membership would mean more revenue for the organization at a time when many industry organizations are struggling. ISM officials confirmed the organization's membership numbers are down from past years, but McHale says it expects to see numbers grow "as soon as the economy improves."
ISM members and affiliate presidents and board members contacted by Purchasing.com expressed a variety of concerns about the proposal. One of the main concerns is vendor salespersons' attendance at ISM events, where specific purchasing strategies are being discussed.
For example, ISM-CV, the affiliate serving Virginia, North and South Carolina, polled its 14-member board earlier this year on the proposal and, as a result of its poll, the affiliate officially expressed its opposition to the move to ISM.
In the written comments from the survey, one ISM-CV member said opening membership to salespeople, "would hinder and negatively affect membership and/or attendance at meetings. I have found over the years that when we have a company involved in sales do presentations that they cannot stop themselves from doing a sales pitch as part of that presentation."
Another ISM-CV member pointed out that his company would "do more than frown if they knew that I was in a meeting with a vendor who could gain an advantage over other vendors regarding strategies or methodologies we are using." In fact, this ISM-CV member said he would not be able to attend meetings that included salespeople "as the appearance of meeting with a vendor or salesperson where we are discussing the aforementioned would violate our firm's purchasing guidelines and principles."
Another major concern among members is how opening membership to salespeople would impact ISM's certifications. Tracy Fales, president of the ISM Greater Grand Rapids affiliate, says "we would be concerned with making sure the professional experience requirement for certifications is not affected." Another affiliate president was concerned that if salespeople are awarded formal membership, then ISM next move could be to begin offering a sales certification, which could lessen the significance of the ISM purchasing certifications.
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