Defining Negotiation Success Most companies still focus primarily on financial metrics such as lowest price when defining negotiation success. While financial terms are clearly a key success factor, there are other types of value at stake in negotiations and without a mechanism for giving weight to these other kinds of value, they are likely to be neglected. Best in class … Read More
Is your procurement team ready to lead?
Having the right people in Purchasing is a must to delivering procurements promised strategic contribution. So try to answer the following questions for your organization: Have you developed a Culture where people are deeply aware of and have internalized the Mission, Vision and Core Values needed to execute the Purchasing and Business Strategy? How well prepared and equipped to carry … Read More
The Greatest Challenge is Internal: Stakeholder Relationships
The Greatest Challenge is Internal: Stakeholder Relationship’s Procurement is often perceived as an EXTERNAL facing function. After all procurement negotiates with suppliers and works with them to reduce cost and improve efficiencies doesn’t it? Well this may be true in part, but procurement’s ability to achieve its objectives is strongly impacted by the strength and quality of its INTERNAL relationships … Read More
Beyond Cost Savings
Procurement leaders must broaden the procurement agenda beyond cost savings and focus on growth and added value strategies. Tomorrow’s procurement leaders must link procurement strategies to the businesses drivers for competitive advantage and focus on outcomes that provide advantage for their customers. To do this procurement must become an integral part of the organization’s growth strategy: 1. Create a compelling … Read More
Closing the Strategic Sourcing, SRM and Negotiation Loop
Closing the Strategic Sourcing, SRM and Negotiation Loop Closing the Strategic Sourcing, SRM and Negotiation Loop: Strategic sourcing, SRM, and negotiation are subjects that you will find no shortage of advice about in books, journals and from consultants. The problem is, there appears to be a lack of literature dealing with these subjects in any integrated form. Searching these terms … Read More
Inbev and Anheuser Busch – Integration Savings
The integration of InBev and Anheuser-Busch once again brings the importance of Supply Managements business contribution into the spotlight. The merger will integrate two strong companies with little overlap in their markets, which when combined represents 40% of the global beer market. In its search for “efficiencies” InBev, renowned for its efficiency has slated $1.5 billion annually from cost savings … Read More
7 deadly sins of procurement:
CPO’s offten operate in difficult challenging environments. So we produced a list of the sins to avoid: 1. No strategic clarity A strong business case, driven by a clear set of objectives owned by the key senior stakeholders, should be an essential pre-condition for any supply management leader. 2. Lack of sustained leadership at senior management level Supply management fails … Read More
Building the foundation for preferential supplier treatment:
Building the foundation for preferential supplier treatment: Introduction: Building the foundation for preferential supplier treatment: Suppliers have choices about which customer they will give new ideas to first. They also have choices regarding their use of scarce capacity, or even which potential customers they choose to target and work with in the first place. It makes sense therefore to become … Read More
Procurements Dilemma – Leader or Support Function
“We want to collaborate with our internal stakeholders, but at the end of the day we cannot tell them to buy into our sourcing strategy.” How many procurement professionals have spent their careers with this echoing loudly in their minds? Procurement professionals become indoctrinated into the profession with messages such as: “You have to take the internal customer along with … Read More
Finding the post integration savings:
Finding the post integration savings: M&A Integration – the moment of truth for purchasing professionals? Finding the post integration savings: It is always a telling time for procurement professionals when two or more organizations integrate, and the books opened for their respective contracts for goods and services. In our experience, those organizations that have invested in best procurement practices and … Read More