Over the last year SM has written extensively about conditions in the US auto industry. A chronic drop in new car sales has been felt acutely by buyers and equally suppliers in the sector.
It may have passed you by but last Friday was World Day Against Child Labour.
Talk of costs – or more accurately, cost cuts – seems to have been amplified in the corridors of Parliament this week.
An interesting set of figures has been released by the Office for National Statistics this week, which revealed that productivity in the public sector has fallen by 3.2 per cent since 1997.
“Every time we go into a pitch these days, it is the procurement people we meet. It never used to be that way,” a disappointed-sounding advertising contact revealed to me last week.
I returned from Africa over the weekend with some abiding memories of the continent and plenty to write up for our special Africa issue out on 23 July.
Can you remember the earliest negotiation you did? Perhaps it was swapping “doubles” of Alan Sunderland and Kevin Keegan to earn the elusive Cyril Regis to complete your sticker album
If you want to get the wider public talking about costs and efficiencies, it pays to discuss a topic close to their hearts … or stomachs.
Yesterday I attended a roundtable held by the Management Consultancies Association (MCA) focusing on the topic of supplier accreditation.
Spanish bank BBVA has come up with a novel way to cut costs – offering employees a “holiday” from the daily grind for up to five years.
