Category Archives: humour

United Airlines Sourcing Soars to New Collaborative Heights …

While the ground crews break guitars1 and break guitars2 and break guitars3 to the dismay of Dave Carroll, Taylor and Hitler. That’s right, song three launches today! (See the Countdown Timer.)  The first two songs have already garnered over 9 Million hits.)

The January 2010 issue of Inside Supply Management chronicled Grace Puma’s efforts to transform Procurement at United Airlines. Through the implementation of a standard sourcing process company-wide, that used category management teams, and alignment with strategic suppliers, through collaborative relationship development, Procurement at United Airlines has been able to obtain “better knowledge around the subcomponents of the cost” and determine what a particular item “should cost”. Wow! I guess that’s why they couldn’t afford to to fix Dave’s guitar! It’s one thing to develop “Clean Sheet” models, hold Supplier Summits, and help suppliers better understand their costs, as per this ISM article on “soaring to new collaborative heights” that, frankly, isn’t worth the energy to light the pixels on my MacBook Pro, but another thing entirely to actually save money and improve quality, which I guess they didn’t do as I see zero mention of any hard numbers (or real success) in the article. Maybe they should get this guy to motivate their Procurement organization!

Share This on Linked In

Will Ariba Trade SpendMan for Speedy Gonzales?

I know Ariba is pretty fond of their SpendMan superhero, but I have to wonder, now that Speedy Gonzales is getting his own movie, if they’ll trade up.

After all, who has more credibility, a made up “spend superhero”, or a classic Warner Brothers cartoon character who has been beloved by generations since 1953 and yells “Ariba, Ariba, Ariba, Andale” every time he outruns and outwits a foe. Just watch this classic Speedy Gonzalez vs Sylvester clip on Youtube and then check out the rather unexciting comics on Spendman’s Facebook page. I don’t know about you, but I know where I’d be putting my advertising dollars!

If Social Networking Sites Were College Students

Check out this great post over on Aaron Hoos blog on “if social networking sites were college students”. In a word, it’s awesome.

  • Classmates.com: the self-absorbed senior who’s been attending college for 8 years to get a 4 year degree
  • MySpace: once the most popular student in school … put on some weight and sold out to “the man”
  • Facebook: the great looking guy that has it all … his popularity on the rise … but in ten years … he’ll feel empty inside
  • Orkut: doesn’t speak English … and he’s not good enough to play the exotic angle to get dates
  • Bebo: the off-campus student no one has heard of
  • LinkedIn: he’s mostly talk and optimistic dreams but he has to work twice as hard to get the same marks as everyone else
  • Xing: he’s a little awkward around the girls and he sometimes forgets to wear matching socks
  • Plaxo: he talks a big, big game but he didn’t make the football team and he’s not on the dean’s list

Share This on Linked In

Does That Report Deserve To Be Stuck Where the Sun Don’t Shine?

Then Oriental Co has the perfect solution for you! Appropriately named White Goat, this new office device can take regular letter-sized paper or shreds, including the last strategic plan from your boss that you cursed until you were blue in the face, and transform it into nearly pristine rolls of white toilet paper.

As seen in the video below, it’s quite simple to use. Plug it in, add paper and water, and about 30 minus later, remove the roll of toilet paper. While the hefty price tag of about 100K means it would take years to recoup the cost, as this CNet Review points out, what price is too high for the pleasure of wiping your butt with your boss’ memos?

Share This on Linked In