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Training and Developing Procurement Professionals

Posted: 08/05/2022 - 09:00
Training and Developing Procurement Professionals

Training a company’s team members is a foundational step in running a company, but it is often forgotten when busy times hit. This is a big mistake. Putting the time and effort into designing a training program that suits the unique needs of procurement will drive more effective results in less time. Employees will be better equipped to manage the various situations and surprises that sourcing across numerous categories brings about.

Attention Robots and Humans: Can We All Just Get Along?

Posted: 08/01/2022 - 09:00
With organizations facing the Great Resignation, many are realizing that human influence and ingenuity are still very vital components to the world of work as we know it.

Global population forecasts say the world’s population will reach almost 8.5 billion by 2030. With the speed at which AI, computational processing power and robotics are developing, it is safe to predict that the global workforce and demands will change markedly in the near future. Job functions will transform rapidly following the pace of technology, so a priority should be to have a workforce that is educated and adaptable, ready to adjust to changing competency demands.

How Procurement Teams Can Diversify Suppliers And Manage Risk

Posted: 07/29/2022 - 09:00
Procurement officers have an important role in helping minority-owned suppliers overcome barriers to accessing contracts through smart risk management policies.

Over the past few years, large enterprises have made incremental progress toward a more diverse supplier ecosystem, but we’re still not there. A recent survey of 100 large global companies by The Hackett Group found these companies intend to increase spending on diverse suppliers by over 50% during the next three years. While these commitments are a start, DE&I initiatives are empty without a plan.

Back to the Future: Intelligent Supply Chain Planning

Posted: 07/27/2022 - 09:00
Factors that businesses need to take into account when overhauling their own supply chain management processes.

The recent domino effect of disruptions, such as Brexit, the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, has inevitably resulted in a huge strain on business’ supply chains. It’s a difficult landscape to navigate, but disruption is a fundamental part of the supply chain and organizations should be taking measures to mitigate these challenges.

Taking The Mystery Out Of AI

Posted: 07/25/2022 - 00:00
Artificial intelligence is significantly impacting the world, yet there’s still a great amount of mystery and misconceptions about it.

The public’s imagination has been heavily shaped by science fiction, with the term AI evoking images of robots like WALL-E, C3PO from Star Wars and David from Stephen Spielberg’s movie A.I. Scientists and technologists refer to this kind of humanlike AI as “general artificial intelligence.” General AI attempts to mimic the kind of abstract thought and typical problem-solving skills seen in humans. 

Amy Edmondson and Psychological Safety in Business

Posted: 07/20/2022 - 09:00
Giving people permission to be candid and respectful is a good way to spur innovation, because when people feel safe, good things happen.

People and businesses need to feel safe, both physically and psychologically. In this area, Amy C. Edmondson is doing important work in the realm of psychological safety.

Edmondson is the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School, a chair established to “support the study of human interactions that lead to the creation of successful enterprises that contribute to the betterment of society.”

Procurement: The Intermediary Growing in Relevance

Posted: 07/18/2022 - 09:00
Procurement’s relevance as an intermediary isn’t going down.

For decades, procurement teams have been connecting people across their organizations with suppliers capable of delivering what those people need, when they need it and at the right price. For a very long time, that was enough to see the department deliver strong, consistent value to the business. However, with the rise of the internet and ecommerce came new abilities and greater empowerment for individuals. The veil was lifted on suppliers, and consumers and employees gained the power to source what they need directly from global suppliers.

What Procurement Teams Can Learn from “The Wisdom of Crowds”

Posted: 07/14/2022 - 09:00
Helpful tips to leverage the collective wisdom your various business teams have accumulated over the years.

Today’s procurement systems are not as sophisticated as they should be, as they fail to incorporate basic tenets of human psychology.

What do we mean by this?

As of now, the primary means of surfacing suppliers in the course of a search selection remains very arbitrary – qualify the suppliers then pick the lowest price. This process does very little to ensure the quality of the supplier and does not reflect what other business teams’ experience with the supplier might have been.

Avoiding Risky Business with External Workforce Management

Posted: 07/13/2022 - 09:00
Compliance issues pose a serious risk for companies that do not have visibility into their external workforce.

It’s Friday afternoon and you are finishing the last of the week’s Human Resources (HR) duties before heading off to a relaxing weekend with friends. Just as you cross that last item off your list you receive a call from your Chief Human Resource Officer. You answer, hoping that any ask might wait until next week. Unfortunately, what you hear on the other end of the line is an HR nightmare and you realize that Friday night cocktail will need to wait a little longer.

10 Reasons to Use Purchase Orders

Posted: 07/11/2022 - 00:00
Learn 10 key reasons to use purchase orders, when other acquisition methods may also apply and get helpful tips for when the CFO asks "why."

The CPO for a financial services company recently asked me for reasons to use purchase orders. Their procurement group was receiving pushback from the firm's Finance division, which was happy to issue payments merely based on internal management just "approving" supplier invoices (grrr).

In my email to this executive, I put together a list of Top 10 Reasons to Use Purchase Orders which I’ll explain in this article.

A New Approach to Contract Management

Posted: 06/30/2022 - 09:00
Until recently, contract management was a predominantly manual process.

When it comes to business, there’s a lot of talk about efficiency. The concept of efficiency, however, differs for larger corporations. When poor processes, communications and technologies prevail, the consequences are substantial. These inefficiencies hinder collaboration, visibility, compliance and, ultimately, growth.

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