In this week’s Soapbox, IBM’s CPO John Paterson says the "recession" in the US is of benefit to purchasers. "Purchasing strategies in this market are quite different from those geared towards a sellers’ market, which has generally been the situation over the past five years. It is important for buyers to be aware of this [...]
In the News Focus of this issue we investigated whether the recent activity by the Office of Fair Trading was a one-off or was setting a precedent for future activity. The views of the lawyers we spoke to was investigations are here to stay, and will perhaps become more dramatic as the group attempts to [...]
This week a reader asked experts for advice on the following: “One of our suppliers is requesting a greater sharing of risk in our construction contracts. How can we achieve a more balanced allocation of risk and still protect ourselves from liability?” Have you got any advice or experience in this area? What would you [...]
It has been interesting to hear from delegates which speeches and workshops they have enjoyed the most over the last four days. And for me the surprise has been that delegates I have spoken to have enjoyed the talks from non-buyers more than the lectures from those in and around the profession. Over the past [...]
As an interesting aside to the debate about whether to wear a tie or not (http://supplymanagement.typepad.com/supply_management_blog/2007/10/tie-or-no-tie.html) to a conference, it’s interesting to see how people from the UK are perceived when aborad in a business situation. In a workshop about global negotiation this afternoon, the speaker said that Brits (and Germans – strangely the only [...]
Here’s a few other thoughts I have noticed over the past couple of days, soaking up the workshops and speeches over the course of the event. • It seems the “networking over coffee” principle, evident at any conference you attend in the UK and Europe, just doesn’t exist in the country that invented Starbucks. [...]
They do things a little different here in the US. For example this is the first conference I have ever attended where we have started by standing for the singing of the national anthems (of both the US and Canada) – beautiful renditions, as it happens, by St. Louis native Erin Bode. It’s also the [...]
Tomorrow I will be heading off to the US to attend the annual Institute for Supply Management conference in St. Louis, which begins on Sunday. It will be interesting to find out from US buyers how they are planning to deal with the major changes to affect the country in the next year, including a [...]
In this issue’s Law Update, Paul Cinnamond looks at how buyers in IT can ensure contracts are flexible enough to keep up with rapid changes in technology. He recommends moving toward output-based contracting by focussing on the desired results rather than the specific products/services you’ll use to achieve those results. Have you had any experience [...]
