A new year and a new decade brings about the end and the beginning of many things. Hopefully the new decade brings an end to the angry woman and cat meme as well as the retirement of the man bun (sorry, it’s not my style). All kidding aside, the new decade brings hope, a chance to renew, a time to reflect and an opportunity to leave the past in the past.
To understand long-term transformations in supply chain and procurement technology, supply chain professionals must be able to understand present trends so they can help shape future realities. Experts believe the following predictions are viable hypotheses that we should consider for 2030.
Understanding ownership of the process, and what role everyone is playing. This must be clear from the outset. Some organizations are not relationship-driven and rely on the top person, relegating the rest of the team to the sideline. This presents problems, because the team is only involved at the last minute, and by then, it’s too late for them to be effective.
As I am writing this article in late March, the full economic fallout from COVID-19 is not yet known and, in fact, will remain unknown for a while. However, two things are clear. The economic repercussions of COVID-19 will be huge and marketing spending is about to be put under the microscope in ways that we haven’t seen since the “great recession” of 2008-2009.
Just about every company monitors when its staff is absent, whether on a planned holiday or sick, and has a policy for how much leave its employees are entitled to. However, very few go any deeper than this. Absence is observed, but most companies do not see the implications of certain trends or ensure compliance across a global workforce, much less take any proactive steps to help their staff on absence-related issues.
Knowing the behavioral history of a supplier prior to negotiations is essential to understand the reasons why a supplier is likely to offer optimal prices and service level agreements (SLA).
In the past, siloed and in-person negotiations often revealed insights about supplier behavior, but these insights were usually ignored because there was no empirical way for a sourcing professional to capture, share, and leverage this behavioral data cross-functionally.
Several recent developments suggest that sustainable procurement is about to become a more significant priority for business and procurement leaders. In August of last year, for example, the Business Roundtable – a non-profit association whose members are the CEOs of major U.S.
As the world gets to grips with a world health and humanitarian emergency resulting from the spread of coronavirus (COVID19), the knock-on economic effects also take effect. In an increasingly global economy, we are starting to see how fragile some just-in-time supply chains have become.
Businesses must ensure they understand what can be done remotely in relation to the signing of documents. They should also now be re-visiting contracts and opening dialogue with other parties within the supply chain to understand the potential impact Covid-19 may have. This planning is imperative to ensure business continuity, that relationships remain commercially viable and that disputes are avoided. Uncertainty does not absolve directors of the need to act in the business’ best interests.
