I found this newswire story on a local crackdown targeting “unacceptable behavior” in Chinese residential communities in Shandong Province all the more humorous because I’ve actually been to this region in China and met with suppliers and local party…
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From reading the news headlines, you might think that the most important supply shortages occurring at the moment are in metals categories (e.g., fasteners, given the whole Boeing 787 delay). Or if you’re thinking through future shortage scenarios ba…
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By now, you’ve probably already read about Senator Larry Craig’s bathroom episode in the Minneapolis airport. I won’t go into the details on these pages. But what is noteworthy about the incident from a Spend Management perspective (hat-tip: Tony Pos…
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I often get calls or emails from those in the FreeMarkets alumni network about where to go to identify and recruit a supply base in certain industries. Maybe it’s castings suppliers in China. Or electronic components suppliers in Taiwan. But what abo…
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Those who’ve known me for decades would say my politics have not budged an inch since my primary school years, when at age ten, I told my grandmother, a former chairwomen of the Lower Merion Democratic Women’s fundraising group, that I did not buy an…
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Japan, which is often known for its more knowledge-driven approach to managing supplier relationships and negotiations rather than old fashioned strong arming tactics, recently recalled a video game that could have served as a metaphor for GM?s appro…
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According to a story in the Washington Post last week, the Pentagon is strongly encouraging US companies to consider working with Iraqi suppliers, but the private sector is refusing to play ball (hat-tip: Tony Poshek). While it might seem ironic that…
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While I — like most of the United States — is taking the day off today, we should all take a moment to give thanks to labor. Whether it’s the low-cost, off-shore type or the UAW $75 / hour (total loaded cost) variety, we should all appreciate what …
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Tim Minahan beat me to the punch on an excellent idea — creating
a complete compendium of clichés and jargon associated with our little corner of the corporate universe. I mean, how we use terms like “lean” and “best value sourcing” with a straigh…
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According to a story posted on the Reuters wire (hat-tip: Tony Poshek), “Chinese police have seized more than a tonne of fake drugs for impotence, bird flu and malaria, including at least 18,000 fake Viagra tablets, state media reported Wednesday.” O…
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