Category Archives: Market Intelligence

Are You Ready to Leave the Procurement Dark Ages? ScoutRFP Has a Simple Tool For You. Part I

In yesterday’s post we noted that even though the Procurement profession has went from zero to hero in those leading organizations that were forward looking enough to let Purchasers gain influence in both the inbound and outbound supply chain and raise the profile of the organization in the eyes of both customers and suppliers, it is still only a select group of leaders that have truly embraced Supply Management and leaped the pond.

The remaining organizations are still in the Procurement Dark Ages, conducting procurement using the age-old three-bids-and-a-buy technique and the fax machine running over a 64 kbit digital ISDN circuit. And, especially in the lower end of the mid-market, this is the norm and not the exception.

To this end, a new company has hit the Procurement Technology marketplace focussing only on RFX. That’s right, RFX. You’d think that the market would be saturated by now, given that RFX solutions have been on the market for a decade and a half, but it isn’t. There are a number of reasons for this:

1.As described above, a lack of foresight and faith in Procurement has held Procurement, and Procurement technology, back in a number of organizations.

2. The high price tag that was associated with such technology in the past. This technology used to be six figure technology. It’s far from that today, but when many companies first investigated this technology, they got such a sticker shock that they decided it would be out of their reach for years, if not decades, as used to be the case with MRP and ERP technology.

3. The complexity of the suite of products that were often forced upon them. A number of early Sourcing and Procurement Technology providers tried to sell entire suites, insisting that individual products were not valuable on their own, and most companies, still using phone and fax, were not ready for the breadth of technology being thrust upon them and so retreated to their dungeons.

The companies at the low-end of the technology and innovation spectrum need to take things one step at a time, and get comfortable with basic technology solutions, like RFX, before moving on to auction and spend analysis and even, if we’re lucky, optimization. And they want to be able to acquire these solutions one at a time.

That’s why Scout RFP has launched a new RFX solution that attempts to provide these companies with a simple, starting, technology solution that these companies can use to dip their toe in the modern age of Procurement at a low cost with little to no risk.

Is it needed? Is it worth it? Stay Tuned for Part II.

Supply Managers are the Rock Stars of the Coming Resource Revolution … But

… the reality is that, in the majority of organizations, Supply Managers are still zeroes, not heroes, even though Professor Sheffi is taking the glass half full view in his article on “how a profession went from zero to hero” on SupplyChainMIT.com.

Supply Managers are only heroes in those leading organizations that were forwarding looking enough to let Purchasers gain influence in both the inbound and outbound supply chain and raise the profile of the organization in the eyes of both customers and suppliers. Their new practices, global view, and risk mitigation not only raised their profile, but also the profile of the organization as a whole. They were given more respect and authority, and soon after were the heroes of their organization.

But not every organization had the foresight of these leading organizations and, as a result, it is still only a select group of leaders that have truly embraced Supply Management and leaped the pond. Most organizations are still effectively in the dark ages and haven’t even embraced RFx or basic e-Invoice technology. While a considerable (but not necessarily a majority) of Fortune 500 / Global 2000 organizations have embraced Supply Management to some degree and some Procurement or Sourcing Technology, as you work your way down to mid-size and smaller organizations, the percentage of organizations that have embraced Supply Management and associated technology decreases dramatically.

Furtheremore, not only is there a huge number of organizations that have not adopted Supply Management, there is a huge gap between the enlightened and the ignorant. And the gap could mean the difference between uninhibited success and eventual bankruptcy.

So how do we spread the message to the masses and usher in the resource revolution?

Thanks to U2, Everyone Remembers Bloody Sunday. But 80 Years Ago Today Was Bloody Thursday!

The Industrial Revolution was not easy. It was a difficult time in American History. It was a time when workers’ rights had not yet been formalized, when unions were being formed, and when America was working hard to become the world leader it is today. It was a period of progress broken up by turmoil when America was going through its growing pains.

Part of this turmoil took the form of regular labour strikes by newly formed unions trying to bring workers rights to hard labourers and some order to the chaos that accompanies rapid industrialization. This included the Wheatland Hop that occurred 101 years ago in Wheatland, California that resulted in 4 deaths and Bloody Thursday that occurred 80 years ago today as part of the 1934 West Coast Longshoremen’s Strike.

This strike lasted eighty-three days and began on May 9, 1934 when longshoremen in every West Coast port walked off the job. They were joined by sailors a few days later. It was a heated and aggressive strike on both sides. As per the Wikiepedia entry, the employers recruited strikebreakers, and in response to this, strikers attacked the stockade housing the strikebreakers on May 15. This resulted in employer’s private guards shooting and killing two strikers.

Due to the impact of the strike (as a significant amount of trade has passed through west coast ports for the last century, which is also why “Billions [are now] at Risk as West Coast Port Contract Ends” [ABC News]), the Roosevelt administration tried to broker a deal to end the strike, but the membership of the newly formed unions rejected the agreements brought to them twice.

This resulted in the employers deciding to force a reopening of the port in San Francisco on July 3, sending trucks through the picket lines which resulted in fights between police and strikers. Then, on July 5, eighty years ago today, the employer’s Industrial Association tried to force a further re-opening of the port. In this attempted reopening, which started in the morning, police shot tear gas canisters into the crowd of strikers, picketers, and supporters, and charged with mounted police. Picketers threw the canisters and rocks back. Both sides then suspended aggressive actives, refortified, and took stock.

But then hostilities resumed in the afternoon outside of the ILA strike kitchen. Eyewitness accounts differ in the exact accounts that transpired next, but the end result was that police ended up firing shotguns, striking three men, and killing two — and giving us Bloody Thursday.

At this point, the California Governor called in the California National Guard to patrol the waterfront and federal soldiers stationed at the Presidio were placed on alert. The picketers pulled back and trucks and trains were, after 58 days, allowed to move without interference. But the strike didn’t end. On July 8, teamsters in both San Francisco and Oakland voted to strike. Then, on July 14, the San Francisco Labor Council voted to call a general strike, and the Mayor declared a state of emergency. This was probably unnecessary, as the Labor Council strike only lasted four days.

When the Labor Council voted to end the General Strike, it also recommended that unions accept arbitration of all disputed issues. This resulted in the National Longshore Board making the same proposal that passed in every port except Everett, Washington. At this point, only one point and striking seamen were left in the lurch. This was the beginning of the end of the strike, and the arbitration award on October 12, 1934 cemented the ILA’s power, which still exists today in the ILWU, which was formerly known as the ILU which broke off from the ILA in 1937 and which covers the west coast district.

The ILWU continues to recognize this day by shutting down all West Coast ports every July 5. Let’s hope they, and the employers, never forget what happens if both sides don’t sit down for as long as it takes to resolve disputes and work out a deal.

Enterprise Software Companies Do Need Media Relations

In yesterday’s post, we insisted that Enterprise Software Companies DO NOT need Public Relations, because they do not. Why? Simple. They DO NOT sell to the public. They sell to big corporations. Big corporations are not the public.

Also, the messaging that you need to sell to a CFO is nothing like the message that you need to sell to an impulsive consumer. Good business is all about productivity, progress, and Return On Investment. Good public relations is all about feeling, connection, sexy, environmental responsibility, or anything else that happens to be the buzz of the day. Good enterprise relations is all about results. Public relations, like consumer advertising, is in constant flux. But the basics of good business never change.

However, the advertising channels through which business advertising have exploded, not only as a result of the rapid expansion of the ubiquity of the world wide web, but of social media as well. As a result, the complexity of media management has increased dramatically. The fundamentals haven’t changed, but the amount of work required to coordinate and manage the effort has. Not to mention the knowledge required to strategically place your advertising and messaging to stand out amidst the noise, which consists not only of a constant stream of advertising and messaging from your competitors but analysis, third party reviews, and random comments. It’s a media jungle, and unless you have a team of full time pros to manage it 24/7, you need help. Even if you do have a team, you probably need guidance.

A good Media Relations Team will help you:

  • Identify the Right Channels
    Which traditional print and online web publications are right for you?
    What are the right channels to advertise your coverage?
    Who are the right people at these outlets to reach out to?
  • Tailor the Message
    While you need to craft and own your message, you also need to recognize that different individuals at different publications who control different channels are interested in different parts of the message you have to deliver. To get your message heard, sometimes you have to focus in on the part that will get a crier’s attention.
  • Spread the Message
    Parts of your message have to spread through others, but thanks to the social media revolution, other parts have to be spread by your organization through social media channels. Managing these can be a full time job, and not the best use of your limited resources. This is best left to an expert.

In other words, you need help, but the help you need is not Public Relations. It’s Media Relations.

And if you really need someone to talk to in order to help you elicit your messaging in a collaborative fashion, hire a subject matter expert (SME) whom can also offer you project management, product development, or thought leadership consulting services. This will jump start those efforts as the subject matter expert will not only be fully familiar with your messaging, but with your modus operandi as well. As a result, there will be little to no learning curve for the SME when it’s time to start the project management, product development, or thought leadership creation. This will pay off in spades as you’ll get your project, product, and/or thought leadership done faster, hit the market faster, and see a significant return faster.

So when it comes to getting help, get the right help. Even if you don’t thank me for it.