I recently stumbled upon Strategic Sourcing: Measuring and Managing Performance again, a report prepared by RAND for Project Air Force back in 2000. Barely over a page into the summary, it notes that in managing their relationship, a customer and a provider jointly choose metrics that they believe will support the corporate goals of […]
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Buried in the mound of data presented by Mr. Jim Mikell in his presentation at the 5th International Symposium on Supply Chain Management was some convincing evidence that, when done right, procurement outsourcing really does work. Depending on the situation, a company without a world class sourcing organization can outsource to a procurement outsourcer with […]
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A few colleagues of mine were at SIG earlier this month, and they all had (some) good things to say about it. I, of course, wasn’t there as SIG events are typically members only and I’m not a member - as it’s primarily for companies and not bloggers and independent consultants. But I’m always happy […]
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As we look back on the past decade of procurement outsourcing, it’s felt more like Waiting for Godot than waiting for savings. Seriously, despite all the hype, investment and potential savings at least some early adopters of outsourcing services have…
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Accenture recently released the results of their recent study on procurement outsourcing on how procurement masters leverage outsourcing on the path to high performance which found that on 1B of controlled, normalized spend, procurement masters achieve 30% higher savings with costs that are 50% lower. Furthermore, the organizational challenges faced by procurement masters are often […]
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Not too long ago, Business Insight ran a really great article entitled, appropriately, Seven Myths About Outsourcing since the goal was to elucidate seven myths about outsourcing. The article starts off by noting that the transition of an operation to an overseas provider often proves to be much more costly and complicated than […]
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We’ve all heard about procurement outsourcing from the perspective of companies considering it in the West. But what about examining the issue from the angle of those engaged in actually doing it? Unfortunately, that’s an too seldom told story. But t…
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European Leaders Blog recently posted a story examining a NeoIT report that highlights the risk a falling dollar poses in global sourcing deals. Their post suggests that companies “build currency fluctuations and hedging in global service contracts a…
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Last week, Wired was on a Crowdsourcing kick that was pretty hard to miss if you were even a casual reader. Crowdsourcing, a topic I first tackled in Purchasing Innovation VI, then in Cambrian House: Crowdsourced Software, and more recently Democratizing Innovation Vs. Crowdsourcing is the process of delegating various tasks for which you […]
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In the latest Supply Now podcast, strategic sourcing and outsourcing expert Sarah Pfaff shares the do’s and don’ts of outsourcing. A founding partner at outsourcing consulting boutique Ariante – and recent contributor to Supply Excellence – the straight-shooting Pfaff gives tough advice on how to build a real business case for outsourcing and how to […]
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