Category Archives: Miscellaneous

Keep Your New Year’s Resolution and Schedule an Appointment with the doctor

If you’re a marketing professional, chances are you just finished polishing off your marketing plan for 2009… but is it really finished? Did you remember blogger relations? More importantly, did you remember to budget for blog sponsorships and thought leadership?

It’s wise to become acquainted with your friendly neighborhood blogger, because your market is going to the blogs. And there’s one blogger in particular you need to get to know — the doctor. When a sourcing professional wants to track trends, she goes to the indices; if she wants a high level overview and some self-evident observations, she goes to the trade pubs; but if she wants some hard-hitting advice on how to combat price increases and rake in savings, she goes to one blog in particular — Sourcing Innovation. No other publication gives you the in-depth analysis and insight on vendor solutions that you will get from the doctor or his friends the Sourcing Maniacs. Ask any one of the thousands (upon thousands) of readers who visit Sourcing Innovation on a regular basis, or choose a few random posts from the dozens and dozens that appear in the Sourcing Innovation vendor post index.

If it’s been six months since your solution’s last check-up, be sure to schedule some time to check in with the doctor in the near future. If you’ve never had a check-up, now would be a great time for that first physical. There’s no better measure of your solution’s health than a private, in-depth review by the doctor; and no advertisement or white paper you publish will be as effective as a content-filled post on Sourcing Innovation. Since the doctor will never publish a solution analysis without an in-depth review, procurement professionals come to Sourcing Innovation first when they want the facts. That’s because unlike other technically-naive bloggers and analysts who believe that they can offer an informed decision based on a press release or a PowerPoint deck, the doctor always examines the patient thoroughly, and always prepares a deeply credible report.

So send an e-mail to schedule your appointment today! Your corporate health may depend on it.

Dumb Moments in Business not Aerospace, Automotive, or Bailout Related

Fortune recently published its “21 Dumbest in Business 2008: which had a number of doozies that weren’t aerospace, automotive, or bailout related.

The following are great examples of what not-to-do if you’re responsible and spend-conscious:

  • 999.99 for a Screensaver
    The Apple App Store briefly listed an app called “I Am Rich” that was nothing but a screen-saver whose sole feature was a glowing red jewel. Apparently, eight suckers bought it before Apple quietly removed the application.
  • “Favors” for Oil
    The Department of Interior, responsible for granting leases for energy exploration and production in federal waters, is caught with its pants down. It seems that staff were accepting gifts, engaging in illegal drug use, and having intimate relations with employees of some of the oil companies they were supposed to be overseeing.
  • Microsoft offers 44.6B for a 27.7B Company called Yahoo
    Fortunately for Microsoft, Yahoo chief Jerry Yang decides to be extremely intransigent, and the deal falls through … along with his job.
  • Bloomberg publishes Steve Jobs’ Obituary
    Despite a well-publicized brush with pancreatic cancer, Steve Jobs is still very much alive and kicking.

Of course, if you really want to be smart, don’t e-mail your employees telling them that their jobs might be in peril and how their managers will be informing them of the news if you’re not quite ready to send your employees packing, like Carat did.

On the Twelfth Day of X-Mas … (Happy Holidays)

On the twelfth day of X-Mas

my blogger gave to me
a pound of cunning,
another vendor hyping,
blog posts worth keeping,
l’il hampsters dancing,
thoughts for a shilling,
strategies for winning,
tactics for saving,
five golden rings,
four little words,
tri-focal lens,
two boxing gloves
and a lesson in strategy.

Now use it wisely.

Happy Holiday Season.

On the Tenth Day of X-Mas … (Supply Chain Blog Posts Worth Keeping)

On the tenth day of X-Mas

my blogger gave to me
blog posts worth keeping,
l’il hampsters dancing,
thoughts for a shilling,
strategies for winning,
tactics for saving,
five golden rings,
four little words,
tri-focal lens,
two boxing gloves
and a lesson in strategy.

10 Sourcing Innovation Blog Posts Worth Keeping

10 Spend Matters Blog Posts Worth Keeping

  • Watch Out For Spend Management Pirates
  • Spend Management Software — Now is the Time to Buy
  • A Supplier Bankruptcy Checklist
  • Reverse Auctions — Is it Hammer Time?
  • One Recipe for Attracting Top Talent into Procurement
  • The Total Cost Angle: Understanding Your True Energy Spend
  • What Does the Potential of “the Mother of all Meltdowns” Mean for Procurement?
  • Your e-Procurement Implementation Sucks (and What You Can Do About It)
  • Package Engineering — Going Green and Saving Green
  • Supplier Sustainability: Is Your Brand at Risk?

10 e-Sourcing Forum Blog Posts Worth Keeping

  • Kryptonite for e-Sourcing Software Selection and Success
  • Supplier Risk Assessment Best Practices
  • Gloomy Short Term Future for SaaS?
  • e-RFx — It’s Not Just About the TCO
  • Eternal Vigilance is the Price of Telecom Savings
  • Two-Way Scorecarding Best Practices
  • Let the Market Decide!
  • Surefire Strategy For Producing a Consulting Train Wreck: “Just Focus on What You Can Control, You Can’t Be Blamed for the Actions of Others”
  • Strategy in Emerging Markets
  • Can You Really Afford to Leave Millions on the Table?

10 Supply Excellence Blog Posts Worth Keeping

  • What’s Your Bailout Plan? Indirect Spend is a Good Start (Part 2)
  • 6 Keys to Getting More from Your Purchasing Staff
  • Is Renegotiating During a Recession Ethical
  • Managing Exceptions Instead of Pushing Paper
  • The Four Core Aspects of Category Assessment
  • 3rd Party Financing — Cut Costs or Raise Prices?
  • Credit Crisis Collaboration: The Best Cash Flow Alternative
  • Spend Management 3.0 and Beyond …
  • Regulators vs. Profitability: How Can Buyers Help?
  • On Demand: What Software Companies Don’t Want You To Know

10 Purchasing Certification Blog Posts Worth Keeping

  • Supplier Partnerships Mean You Have to Contribute Too
  • The Recession & Supplier Stratification
  • Supplier Financial Risk & Purchasing/AP Collaboration
  • LCCS and Cultural Considerations
  • Turn The Other Cheek? Not When It’s A Supplier Slapping You!
  • Reverse Auctions STILL Controversial? Come On!
  • Supplier Collaboration – Tales of Two Different Approaches
  • Cost Savings Potential
  • Tough Negotiating: What’s The Worst That Can Happen?
  • Purchasing Principles From The Stanley Cup Finals?

10 Supply Chain Matters Blog Posts Worth Keeping

  • Prescriptions for Difficult Times
  • A Perspective on China’s Business Culture
  • Insuring Your Supply Chain Professional Development
  • Supply Chain Management Challenges in the Post Financial Crisis Era
  • Seven Grand Challenges for Supply Chain Management- Part Three
  • A New Look at Inventory Planning Urged
  • Another Lesson of Supply Chain Risk for Food Supply Chains
  • Investing in Supply Chain Technology during Uncertain Times
  • Supplier Portals — The Value Proposition
  • Navigating Through Economic Downturns- the balancing of sourcing strategies

10 Safe Sourcing Blog Posts Worth Keeping

  • Consumers care about the environment and safety; not so much about your profitability.
  • Twenty steps to running high quality e-procurement events.
  • Here are nine steps to safer and more eco-friendly procurement.
  • How can retailers creatively use e-procurement tools to limit upcoming losses from below normal holiday spending?
  • How can the procurement department lead the way in company green initiatives?
  • How do suppliers benefit from participation in e-procurement events such as reverse auctions?
  • Should Retailers conduct e-procurement events as Full Service or Self Service? Are there other alternatives?
  • Supplier selection! This may be the most important decision you make.
  • Collaboration. What appears to be common sense obviously is not.
  • Twenty steps to running high quality e-procurement events.

10 e-Sourcing Place Blog Posts Worth Keeping

  • Reverse Auction Guidelines
  • Gartner Magic Quadrant for Sourcing Application Suites – A Reaction
  • Spreadsheet Worst Practices
  • Where Next? Has Changed
  • e-Auctions in the News
  • On Reverse Japanese Auctions
  • e-Auctions in Supply Management
  • Does Procurement Auction Design Matter? (Part 4)
  • Does Procurement Auction Design Matter? (Part 1)
  • Another reason why enterprise software is generally so bad

10 Transformation Leadership Blog Posts Worth Keeping

  • The Mark of a Leader — Part II
  • Corporate e-Harmony
  • Transformation Insights I
  • Payment Terms IV
  • Deliberate Supply Chain Interruptions
  • Low Cost Country Sourcing
  • TCO — Total Cost of Ownership — IV
  • Supply Chain Components of Natural Gas Cost — II
  • Supplier Risk Management VII
  • The ROI of Supplier Recognition

10 European Leaders Network Blog Posts Worth Keeping

  • Food for thought
  • Psychology the key as survival instincts kick in
  • Lessons from the world’s largest supply chain
  • Suppliers strike back as big boys stick boot in
  • Procurement on the sales radar
  • Europe Catches e-Sourcing Fever
  • Viral marketing hones in on supply chains
  • Tier two cities could put India on the map
  • Research points to new focus on services procurement
  • Supply chain management and the war for talent

On the Fourth Day of X-Mas … (Collaborate)

On the fourth day of X-Mas
my blogger gave to me
four little words,
tri-focal lens,
two boxing gloves
and a lesson in strategy.

One of my favorite presentations from the last few years is Coca Cola‘s presentation on “Winning Together” from eyefortransport’s Supply Chain Directions Summit back in 2006.

The presentation, which described Coca Cola’s big push to improve its supply chain through collaboration and information sharing, noted that success depends on:

  • relationships,
  • communications,
  • commitments, and
  • visibility.

These little words have a meaning that’s just as big today as it was two years ago. They’re still the blueprint of success between you and your supply chain partners. Although important, the keys to sourcing success are never canned processes or over attention to metrics, but working as an extended team with your supply chain partners and focussing on the customer. This means communicating to them early when a shipment is in danger of being late, working with them to find alternate sources of supply if the primary source dries up, and suggesting material and design changes that will reduce costs and improve quality. Strong relationships are the key to success and sustainability — take the time to get it right.

Furthermore, it’s important to remember that, when you get right down to it, very little information is truly confidential, and the best way to resolve issues and collaboratively improve supply chain performance is often to put everything on the table. It’s important to share all relevant information with your partners, and give them whatever they ask for if it will help them help you. Remember, there’s a big difference between sharing information with a trusted partner and blasting it all over your corporate web-site. You can always enter into two-way protection agreements if need be, but you can’t collaborate if you don’t share.