Strategy . Influence . Innovation . Process

A three part guide for CEO’s, CFO’s and purchasing leaders on developing a corporate level capability to negotiate Here in Part #1: we discuss how to get started to generate significant bottom line savings and add value by developing a new strategic capability without any demoralizing impact on employees. Introduction: Organizations must recognize that they [...]

Under international pressure to revalue its currency, China has been accused of exporting unemployment to the world. However, China showed spectacular timing by announcing a week before the G20 meeting in Toronto that it will abandon the two-year-old peg that has kept the RMB tied to the dollar and allow the exchange rate to float [...]

In a separate post, over on SM Steve Bagshaw asks us to contemplate what we call ourselves – a question which refuses to die. On the Purchasing Practice Linkedin group this same question is still receiving comments more than 12 months after posting. The answer really depends upon where the procurement profession wants to be. [...]

In a previous posting on how to win executive support a reader comment highlighted the fact that many procurement professionals still struggle for support and greater recognition, which can – in his terms – damage your “procurement mojo”. So for those readers who still need to convince a sceptical organisation, here are some tips to [...]

All procurement professionals will have experienced the consequences of not having senior management support at some point in their career. The consequences can wreck promising careers and destroy confidence when things go wrong and you find yourself “on your own”. It is vital therefore buyers have strong organisational awareness and recognise the presence or absence [...]

Catching up with a well-respected colleague who is trying to sell his services to the public sector, he bemoaned their insistence upon public sector and OJEU experience. Why would you insist on this experience – bring in more of the same – to bring about change? We both agreed this is the last thing you [...]

When I was asked to write about procurement to attract graduates into the profession, I came up with the concept of the 5 hats of success: Hat 1: Entrepreneur Able to spot opportunities and manage risk to support the organisation’s growth plans. Hat 2: Change manager Able to define future state requirements and develop realistic [...]

With the continued introduction of new procurement labels and attention seeking headlines we argue that procurement leaders must retain focus on building capability: Over on the Procurement Leaders blog Neil Deverill uses the term Procurement 2.0: “Where basic procurement typically exists in siloed organisations with poor internal communication and price reductions as the end goal, [...]

> Increasingly, international manufacturers are motivated to be in China due to the growing domestic demand of the Chinese marketplace. It is easy to see why when you consider that last year, Chinese consumers bought more automobiles than Americans for the first time in history. Tim Lee, General Motors Shanghai-based president of international operations recently [...]

One topic grabbed my attention recently while I was engaged in a discussion over on the Purchasing Practice LinkedIn group covering the future of procurement: the issue of holding supplier meetings in virtual game/life simulation Second Life. A quick Google search highlighted impressive organisations such as Intel, IBM and Schneider Electric using Second Life for [...]