Daily Archives: April 6, 2009

Upcoming Events from the #1 Supply Chain Resource Site

The Sourcing Innovation Resource Site, always immediately accessible from the link under the “Free Resources” section of the sidebar, continues to add new content on a weekly, and often daily, basis. In fact, there have been over 250 resource additions in the past week alone!

The total number of unique, active resources exceeds the 2,500 mark, and breaks down as follows:

  •   19 Analyst Firms
  • 156 Blogs
  •   20 Centers of Excellence
  • 629 Companies
  • 162 Conferences
  •   25 Job Sites
  •   28 Journals
  • 316 Linked-In Groups
  •   13 Newsletters
  •   28 On-Demand Classes
  •   38 Press Release Services
  •   64 Podcasts
  •   49 Publications
  •     9 Roundtables
  •   89 Seminars
  •   86 Societies
  • 236 Training Classes
  •   32 Webcasts
  • 498 Archived Webcasts
  •   24 Workshops

And includes the following upcoming events, among many others:

Conferences

Dates Conference Sponsor
2009-Apr-22 to

2009-Apr-24

 IACCM Americas

ChampionsGate, FL, USA (North-America)

 IACCM
2009-Apr-27 to

2009-Apr-28

 Trade Compliance 101 – Back to Basics

Raffles City, Singapore (Asia)

 Mondial Trade Compliance
2009-Apr-27 to

2009-Apr-29

 ProcureCon Indirect

Amsterdam, North Holland, The Netherlands (Europe)

 WBR
2009-Apr-29 to

2009-Apr-29

 World class procurement and supply chain management

Cardiff, England, UK (Europe)

 CIPS
2009-May-26 to

2009-May-27

 3rd Annual Structured Trade and Export Finance in India Conference

Mumbai, India (Asia)

 Euromoney Seminars

Seminars

Dates Seminar Sponsor
2009-Apr-15 to

2009-Apr-17

 Fundamentals of Purchasing: The Building Blocks of World-Class Professionalism

Dallas, TX, USA (North-America)

 ISM
2009-Apr-15 to

2009-Apr-15

 Inventory Optimization Best Practices

Edison, New Jersey, USA (North-America)

 SmartOps
2009-Apr-21 to

2009-Apr-21

 Buying Advertising & Marketing

Kent, England, UK (Europe)

 CIPS
2009-Apr-22 to

2009-Apr-24

 Legal Aspects of Supply Management: The Basics You Need to Succeed

Orlando, FL, USA (North-America)

 ISM

Workshops

Dates Workshop Sponsor
2009-Apr-19 to

2009-Apr-20

 Inventory Planning & Control

Kuala Lumpur, Greater Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Africa)

 Marcus Evans
2009-Apr-21 to

2009-Apr-21

 Implementing lean thinking in recession

Manchester, England, UK (Europe)

 CIPS
2009-Apr-23 to

2009-Apr-24

 Sourcing Innovation through R&D Alliances

King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, USA (North-America)

 IRI

which are all readily searchable from the comprehensive Site-Search page. So don’t forget to review the resource site on a weekly basis. You just might find what you didn’t even know what you were looking for!

And continue to keep a sharp eye out for new content and even more new content categories which will be coming on-line in the near future!

A Simple Risk Management Framework

In the article that discussed “an upside to the downturn” in the CPO Agenda, the authors, who discussed the two faces of risk, presented a simple executive risk framework that grouped risks into four categories:

  • Strategic Risk
    This category of risk, which include demand risks, market risks, and partnership risks, corresponds to risks which affect the strategic direction of the company.
  • Operational Risk
    This category of risk, which includes production risks, performance risks, and transportation risks, corresponds to the risks inherent in day-to-day company operations.
  • Financial Risk
    This category of risk, which include commodity market risks, exchange risks, and supplier solvency risks, corresponds to the financial risks inherent in business.
  • Hazard Risk
    This category of risk, which include natural disasters, political unrest, war and terrorist attacks, corresponds to all non-financial, non-strategic, and non-operational risks which can not be predicted.

The advantage of this simple executive risk framework makes it easy to see the opportunity that each risk offers if you capitalize on the opportunity it presents.

  • Strategic Opportunity
    While a strategic partnership might bring with it the risk of intellectual property, it brings with it the strategic opportunity for joint innovation. And where innovation is concerned, the more minds at your disposal, the better.
  • Operational Opportunity
    If product shortage is a risk, product assurance is an opportunity. If a material shortage is likely, redesigning the product to use an alternate material is an opportunity … that will allow you to take control of the market when your competitors fail to deliver.
  • Financial Opportunity
    If unexpected commodity cost increases is a risk, then a price monitoring and control strategy that allows you to lock in low prices for the long term when the market conditions are right is an opportunity.
  • Hazard Opportunity
    If natural hazards pose a risk, the identification of geologically disparate sources is an opportunity. While your competitors could lose a significant portion of their supply, you’ll just keep on truckin’.