I’ve spent much of my career in the procurement field and I’ve heard a heck of a lot of bunkum about the power aspect of the location for negotiations. I hear it again and again from buyers that ‘home is best’, with the ‘other side’ supposedly feeling more intimidated when they have to negotiate on the buyer’s home turf. (more…)
Since the start of 2012, I’ve been to the US three times and it is interesting to reflect on what is going on in the world of sustainability. It is tempting to say “not much” and make this a very short blog, but that’s not the case.
I never imagined I would spend time in Texas working on sustainability with a company that exclusively supplies big oil with capital equipment, but I did. I never imagined I would end up helping the United Nations deliver the Rio +20 event in a more sustainable way, but I have. I did not predict spending time with the UK, US and Canadian institutions for civil engineering talking about more sustainable infrastructure development, but I have. And I expect to be back in the summer, working with at least two other global businesses. And yes, I offset my flights! (more…)
I have recently awarded a high-value contract where the public sector establishment will have to find a way to develop a good relationship with a small private company to deliver the commissioned service successfully.
It was not easy to arrive at the solution, however budgetary constraints dictated the outcome and the private company’s offers was commercially more competitive and the small panel evaluating the tender responses was united in its outcome. (more…)
What will procurement look like in 10 years? None of us have the answer but we do hold the power to shape the future.
The buzz in procurement has long been about elevating its reputation as a business driver. That’s a tremendous goal for any procurement team and we should all strive for it. The starting point is extending our reach beyond our own department by transforming procurement and compliance into a company-wide initiative. (more…)
The implications of two recent headlines appear to have escaped the procurement profession’s attention. One news story was the UK government expects to save more than £5 billion this year after a round of “tough contract negotiations” with suppliers. The other was that according to the National Fraud Authority, procurement fraud is costing the public sector £2.3 billion. (more…)
I have just returned from Johannesburg in South Africa where I attended the CIPS Pan African Conference. And while it was nice to have a couple of days in the sunshine, more importantly it was very interesting to hear in person some of the procurement initiatives and strategies being used on the continent. (more…)
The winner of this year’s J Shipman gold medal award – the highest prize given to a purchaser by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) in the US – went to Joe Cavinato.
The ISM supply chain professor is credited with developing the profession by recognising that supply chain management goes beyond purchasing and procurement because its professionals get involved before the product is even created. (more…)
I was surprised just how much of Doha, the location for this year’s CIPS Middle East Conference, is still under construction.
I mistakenly thought the Qatari city would have suffered from the financial crisis like other nations in the region, but there was no sign that this was the case as workers toiled in the roasting sun. And, with the announcement last week of plans to build an underwater hotel in Dubai, it seems the rest of the region continues its recovery. Last year the economy of Qatar grew by 15 per cent, and expansion is likely to continue, boosted by hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2022 (and – potentially – the Olympic Games in 2020). (more…)
A contributor to a recent study into the future of corporate travel suggested one of the major sources of stress exists because providers “are not incentivised to make life any easier for passengers”.
The same criticism could levelled at some business travel processes and policies. They are in place for the company’s benefit, not the employee’s. The growth of “consumerisation” in corporate travel suggests this could be about to change. (more…)
I am often asked about supplier relationship management (SRM) and how to maximise results in this area. It is a topic of much debate and a Google search finds over six million results, so it can be hard to know where to start.
Organisations often fall into the trap of improving their SRM meeting structures and reporting processes without actually focusing on the accuracy of their underlying KPIs. (more…)
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