Articles from Sourcing Innovation

1. Nine Rules for Stifling Supplier Innovation Explore Sourcing Innovation (Feb 3 2013) Supplier Relationship Management , Value creation Mark Perara recently penned a great post on Nine Rules for Stifling Supplier Innovation. Here are Mark's Nine Rules. 1. Be suspicious of ideas that come from your suppliers - your strategy, innovation and R&D teams know your business better than anyone externally. 2. Keep suppliers really really busy. Change your requirements and staff regularly so suppliers have no time to focus on innovation. Their account managers will be too busy to try and second guess what your business needs as well as not knowing who to speak to.  ... (Read Full Article)

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2. Do We Have to Send CPOs to Disney for Training? Explore Sourcing Innovation (Nov 28 2012) Value creation , Leadership According to Steve Hall of Procurement Leaders, the CPO's challenge is to re-imagine supply chains. Traditional transformation is just not enough - you have to come up with radically different designs. You have to do for supply chains what Walt Disney Imagineering does for Disney - blending imagination and engineering in a unique way to create unique experiences with their creations. (Read Full Article)

   Comment Mentions:   Steve Hall   Disney

3. Good Advice from HBR on Understanding Suppliers in the Solution Economy Explore Sourcing Innovation (Sep 26 2012) Sourcing , SM B2B Marketing HBR recently published a post on understanding customers in the solution economy in which they noted that creating new value will require suppliers to combine their expertise with their understanding of their customers' business needs. Which is completely true. They also said that this calls for changes in how B2B companies gather customer intelligence. (Read Full Article)

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4. Some Legal Considerations When Outsourcing to India Explore Sourcing Innovation (Aug 16 2012) Outsourcing , Procurement Ethics A recent article over on Outsource Magazine had a good article on legal considerations when outsourcing to India that addressed core legal issues that should form the basis of your Master Services Agreement when outsourcing to India. The four issues addressed could be very problematic if not covered by your agreement. (Read Full Article)

   Comment Mentions:   India   New York   Geneva

5. Sustainability Requires Shared Understanding Explore Sourcing Innovation (Jul 29 2012) Sustainable Procurement A recent article on Sustainable Success over on the CPO AGenda discussed three challenges that, when addressed, can lead to success in sustainability efforts. The challenge of tools and transition to better processes is well known, and straight-forward to address. The challenge of recognizing the achievements of supply management professionals is lesser known, but there are a number of techniques that can be used to address this challenge. (Read Full Article)

   Comment Mentions:   CPO Agenda

6. "E" Does Not Change The Fundamental Nature Of Anything Explore Sourcing Innovation (Jul 4 2012) Sourcing , Online Supply Communities Purchasing Insight just ran an awesome article by Ian Burdon who talked about the e-wheels on my wagon. Attempting to carefully explain why the e-Procurement debate is at least ten years behind the curve (and that if you're not doing proper e-Procurement by now, you probably just crawled out of a cave somewhere ... or at least that's the doctor's interpretation), he makes a great point that has been often missed in the internet age that must be repeated: ... (Read Full Article)

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7. For a Good Lesson in e-Procurement System Selection, Ask Discount Tires. Explore Sourcing Innovation (Jun 25 2012) Sourcing This winter, Chief Executive ran an article on The Synergy Mirage: A Case Study that had a great lesson for every Supply Management team looking to select an e-Procurement system with the intent that anyone in the organization who wants to order something will use it. The lesson was simple: Customers don't want to buy new tires. They need to buy new tires. It's expensive and it takes time out of their day. As a competitor, [Chairman] [Bruce] Halle benefited from making the process somewhat less expensive and taking less of the customer's time. He also ... (Read Full Article)

   Comment Mentions:   Atlantic   Ariba   SAP

8. It used to be that Doctors made Life and Death Decisions. Now Supply Managers do too! Explore Sourcing Innovation (Jun 24 2012) Sourcing This recent CSR briefing over on the CPO Agenda on when good procurement can be a life and death factor is great food for thought as it points that not Supply Management is more then just sourcing and procuring, it's also also sustaining and securing -- in more ways than one! Focussing on how the early 2000s saw several incidents where hospital patients inadvertently received excess doses of their drugs that resulted in fatalities, the article pointed out how a poor selection of IMDs (Interactive Medical Devices) that didn't do anything to prevent common human errors was ... (Read Full Article)

   Comment Mentions:   IMF   CPO Agenda

9. You need a Platform that Supports Sustainability Explore Sourcing Innovation (Jun 20 2012) Sustainable Procurement I think we can all agree that sustainability is important - very important. You might be in business to make money, but the only way you're going to make money is if you stay in business. The only way you're going to stay in business is if you're sustainable, because, otherwise, you risk running out of resources, money, or, and I'm not kidding, customers. The earth is finite, so it stands to reason that there is only a finite amount of any resource. A company has a finite amount of money, and wasting ... (Read Full Article)

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10. What Elements Are Truly Necessary To Prevent Missing Links in Your Supply Chain? Explore Sourcing Innovation (Jun 18 2012) Procurement Technology A recent article in Canadian Transportation & Logistics that asked where the missing links in your supply chain are did a great job of of pointing out that when it comes to supply chains, what you see is what you get. And it often is the situation that the more you can see into the chain, the more benefits you can receive. It also hit the nail on the head when it noted that the ability to view timely, accurate information from the beginning of the chain to the end is essential for: ... (Read Full Article)

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11. Bravo to CPO Agenda for Pointing Out That Charging Suppliers to Bid is a Really Bad Idea! Explore Sourcing Innovation (Jun 4 2012) Leadership As I've told everyone who has ever asked, charging suppliers to bid is a really bad idea. Not only does it generate ill-will, but as this recent article over on the CPO Agenda that gave tips for understanding why charging suppliers to tender is a bad idea noted, it could even be illegal. But let's take the tips one-by-one because it seems that this practice, which started rearing its ugly head at the start of the recession, is still trying to push through. It is Counter-Productive ... (Read Full Article)

    Comment Mentions:   CPO Agenda

12. How Much Does That Enterprise Supply Management Solution Really Cost, Part II? Explore Sourcing Innovation (May 24 2012) Procurement Technology In yesterday's post, we asked how much an enterprise supply management solution really costs because the up-front license cost or annual subscription fee is only one part of the puzzle -- and until the full puzzle is understood, it's hard to figure out what the true cost is and, ultimately, what's the right solution for the organization. The difficulty is the plethora of license models, and add-on fees, that have been invented by on-premise and SaaS/Cloud vendors over the years in an effort to get a leg-up on their competition (and a siphon ... (Read Full Article)

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13. Have You Reached the Summit of Cost Cutting? Explore Sourcing Innovation (May 7 2012) Contract Management , Value creation Cost cutting has been a major focus of your average Supply Management organization for most of the decade. A few efforts have been focussed on the long term, but the majority have been short-term efforts. And this is not a good thing, because, as Patrick Dunne of Alliance Boots said in a recent article over on the CPO Agenda everything has to be a long-term activity. (Read Full Article)

    Comment Mentions:   SAP   CPO Agenda

14. If You Do Not Get Sustainable Results, Blame Yourself! Explore Sourcing Innovation (Apr 30 2012) Sourcing , Value creation Let's Talk! It's deja vu all over again! Robert Rudzki is not the only blogger and consultant to recently hear that a potential client had, just a few years ago, hired a large consulting firm to do a high-profile "strategic sourcing program" with nothing sustainable to show for it. (Read Full Article)

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15. Should You Hedge Your Transportation Costs? Explore Sourcing Innovation (Apr 24 2012) Transport & Logistics It's a tough question, and one that you need to answer sooner rather than later. If you read this recent article on how global shipping lines grapple with plunging rates, overcapacity, and faltering recover, you realize that the global shipping industry is likely in for a very shaky ride over the next few years. (Read Full Article)

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16. EQ does not matter more than Iq -- Nice to see not everyone is getting caught up in the hype! Explore Sourcing Innovation (Apr 17 2012) Value creation , Leadership EQ, short for Emotional Quotient and also known as EI, short for Emotional Intelligence, and the next resurgent craze in talent management, is very important in Supply Management given the regularity with which supply management professionals need to interact with suppliers and peers around the globe. (Read Full Article)

    Comment Mentions:   CPO Agenda

17. Will Your Supply Chain Avoid the 88 Million Dollar Fine? Explore Sourcing Innovation (Apr 2 2012) Procurement Ethics , Risk Management Last year, JP Morgan had to pay $88.3 Million in fines for breaking U.S. embargo laws and trade sanctions, including Global Terrorism Sanctions Regulations and Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferators Sanctions, in three incidents between 2005 and 2011 that involved Cuba, Iran and Sudan, as reported on AllGov. That's a huge penalty that resulted from simply making loans and wire transfers. And in 2010, Maersk had to pay a $3.1 Million fine for using ships registered in the U.S. to carry commercial cargo to Sudan and Iran between January 2003 and October 2007. Another huge ... (Read Full Article)

    Comment Mentions:   Airbus   Iran

18. The Global Agenda -- It's Coming! Explore Sourcing Innovation (Mar 18 2012) Sourcing , Leadership One of the key takeaways from Hackett's 2012 Procurement Agenda is Globalization and Global Operating Models. Why? The Hackett Group 2011 Key Issue Study found that not only is globalization critical for enabling revenue growth but the level of planned transformation over the next two to three years is such that the respondents' ambitious plans will nearly triple today's level of globalization within two to three years. Wow! Within three years, the percentages of organizations with the following key activities at the maximum global level achievable is expected to enter the double digits almost across ... (Read Full Article)

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19. Legal Sourcing Requires A Legal Mind Explore Sourcing Innovation (Feb 28 2012) Sourcing , Services Procurement Or at least an understanding of the legal mind! Sourcing Innovation occasionally covers Legal Sourcing, which is one of the sacred cows in many organizations. However, as the doctor has more expertise in Sourcing Technology than in Legal Sourcing, not very often. Thus, when the doctor sees a great article on Legal Sourcing, he points it out. Last week, over on Spend Matters, he saw such a great article. Cyndi Joiner's guest post on how you should Be Smart When Sourcing Legal is just such an article. You have to do ... (Read Full Article)

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20. Too Bad the US Post Office Did Not Follow Royal Mail's Lead Explore Sourcing Innovation (Feb 23 2012) Demand Management , Sourcing , Value creation , Public Sector The US Post Office is in dire straits. So dire that, as per the transcript of this PBS.org Newsmaker Interview from December 5, 2011, on how the U.S. Postal Service Faces Big Changes Amid [its] Struggle to Deliver on Profitability, the post office is planning to shutter almost half of the nation's mail processing centres next spring. Given that it is currently 15 Billion in debt and owes about 5 Billion for retiree health benefits, it needs to save 20 Billion fast and it's solution is a significant restructuring that it hopes will allow it to ... (Read Full Article)

    Comment Mentions:   Iasta   Royal Mail

21. 11 Ways to Improve Your Supply Chain Management Explore Sourcing Innovation (Feb 19 2012) Sourcing , Spend Analysis & Benchmarking Late last year, Enterprise Apps Today had a great article on 11 Ways to Improve Your Supply Chain Management. A few of these are not repeated, or not listened to, enough, including: Throw Away Your Spreadsheets As Sourcing Innovation has reminded you, Spreadsheets, which are riddled with errors and outdated information, Will Cost You Billions! Billion dollar accounting errors have resulted from spreadsheets on more than one occasion! Manage Information, Don't Use Information Management ... (Read Full Article)

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22. Are You Ready For Name-And-Shame Legislation? Explore Sourcing Innovation (Feb 10 2012) Procurement Ethics , Risk Management On January 1, 2012, the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act (SB 657) went into effect. it's an example of "name and shame" legislation, which requires companies to report on specific actions taken to eradicate slavery and human tracking in their supply chain. The idea is that if slavery and human trafficking is in your supply chain, you'll have to tell the world and the resulting consumer and shareholder pressure will force you to achieve the social goals of doing whatever it takes to eliminate human trafficking and slavery. If your company ... (Read Full Article)

    Comment Mentions:   California

23. Want Supply Management Pros? Avoid the Culture Clash! Explore Sourcing Innovation (Feb 8 2012) Talent Management Chief Executive recently ran a good, but short, article on Talent retention that said More than Money: Culture is the Key to Employee Retention that is worth a read by every Supply Management Director looking to recruit and retain talent, which, due to a lack of talent development programs, is in short supply at many Supply Management organizations. Noting that in this economy, however, companies can't afford increased salaries and lots of perks for employees, the article also notes that, however, that though employees do care about how much they're making, there are many other things that ... (Read Full Article)

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24. Can Cost Management On Its Own Be Strategic? Explore Sourcing Innovation (Feb 7 2012) Value creation A recent issue of eSide Supply Management published a piece on Strategic Cost Management and the Supply Base that, while full of good advice, might be misleading to an up-and-coming Supply Management practitioner who needs to be set on the right road early on. However, before I can explain, let's review the key points from the article. The article started off great when the author noted that: It might sound obvious, but when faced with a cost improvement challenge from your ... (Read Full Article)

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