Archive for the 'Best Practices' Category
Bloomberg recently reported that Private Equity (PE) deals have fallen 70% in the first 10 months of this year, confirming what many in the industry have known for quite some time: economic conditions have put a near halt on deal flow and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. At The Deal’s M&A […]
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November 12th, 2008 | Posted in Sourcing, Financial Value Chain, Best Practices, Spend Analysis, Procurement, recession, indirect spend, M&A, private equity
I recently wrote about the dollar gaining strength and the plummeting price of steel. It’s a welcome change after years of hearing a broken record on direct materials…higher prices…higher prices…higher prices…
Naturally, when purchasing power goes up and prices go down, buyers want to act on the opportunity, and many ask “is now is the time […]
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November 7th, 2008 | Posted in Sourcing, Supply Management, Best Practices, Supplier Management, LCCS and trade, supply risk, automotive sector, Negotiations, recession, commodities, steel
Clearly in this business economy cash is not only King, it’s pocket Kings with the flop on the way (for you WSOP fans!). To protect their businesses and ensure sufficient cash flow in this tight credit environment, organizations are doing everything they can to hold on to the cash they have and free up even […]
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November 6th, 2008 | Posted in Supply Management, Best Practices, Procurement, supply risk, recession, supply chain finance
The credit crisis is the supply chain risk getting most of the attention these days. But in the recent online Town Hall forum, IACCM President & CEO Tim Cummins, pointed out another risky behavior that many companies engage in. Tim said a “hero culture”, where saving the company from disaster in the nick of time, […]
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November 5th, 2008 | Posted in Sourcing, Supply Management, Best Practices, Procurement, supply risk, supply chain finance
This quarter’s SupplyWatch report hit the virtual shelves Friday (print edition will go out to subscribers shortly). In addition to the Core Category Details, this issue includes an interview with Yahoo! CPO Ron Carcamo, a man who was brought into the company 18 months ago to get their spend under control and chart a course […]
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November 3rd, 2008 | Posted in Supply Management, Best Practices, Procurement, Case Study, travel, SupplyWatch
Today’s guest post is from Robert Rudzki, a former Fortune 500 senior executive of supply management who now runs Greybeard Advisors, a strategic management consulting firm.Bob has authored several business books including Beat the Odds: Avoid Corporate Death and Build a Resilient Enterprise and Straight to the Bottom Line.He can be reached at rudzki <at> […]
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November 3rd, 2008 | Posted in Best Practices, Risk Management, Corporate
I recently laid out my thoughts how Web 3.0 will change sourcing and procurement by increasing the volume of information about buyers and suppliers. B the time that evolution occurs, the internet itself will be massive. Actually…what am I saying…it already is massive and that’s why everyone relies so heavily on Google to index everything.
But […]
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October 31st, 2008 | Posted in Sourcing, Supply Management, Best Practices, Procurement, technology trends
A member of the Buyer & Supplier Contracts Group on LinkedIn recently posted a very interesting question to the community:
In this Volatile market scenario is it ethical to renegotiate the existing contracts? Is this the only way to survive in the business?
In the current economic and credit climate, I’m sure a lot of companies are […]
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October 30th, 2008 | Posted in Contract Management, Supply Management, Best Practices, Supplier Management, supply risk, automotive sector, recession, supply chain finance, LinkedIn
This is part two of a three-part series.Yesterday we covered the five — new and improved — predictions of Jason “The Prophet” Bush, the Spend Master of Spend Matters, that he has issued from high (on his soapbox) to the supply management community as part of his fall conference tour. These predictions were: […]
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October 30th, 2008 | Posted in Best Practices, Technology, Miscellaneous, Market Intelligence
News this week that Tesco is looking to double its payment terms with suppliers to 60 days should certain raise some eyebrows within (and beyond) cash-strapped food service and retail sectors. Yet, hopefully, it will not cultivate a cult of imitators.
While cash is certainly king in today’s economy, this is not the time to withhold […]
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October 29th, 2008 | Posted in Sourcing, Financial Value Chain, Best Practices, Supplier Management, supply risk, supply market dynamics, recession, supply chain finance, webinar, process efficiency