Archive for the 'Supplier Management' Category

Is Renegotiating During a Recession Ethical?

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 […]

Read the rest » Supply Excellence

Tesco: What Not to Do in a Down Economy

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 […]

Read the rest » Supply Excellence

Managing Exceptions Instead of Pushing Paper

One last topic from Spend Management Day in Seattle has been in my queue for a while, and that’s the common theme from several presenters towards processes that empower their employees to work on exceptions to the rule rather than repetitive tasks.
A great example is Expedia, whose contracts department handles a staggering 45,000 active contracts […]

Read the rest » Supply Excellence

The Sourcing Maniacs 2008 Vendor Tour Part I: Aravo

[Wakko, Yakko, & Dot] We are the sourcing-maniacs And we’re zany to the max So just sit back and relax You’ll laugh ’til […]

Read the rest » Sourcing Innovation

British Airways CEO: Spend Management “Vital to Survival”

On a swing through Europe last week, I had the good fortune to attend a discussion with British Airways CEO Willie Walsh during the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) forum at the new Sofitel in the airline’s new Terminal 5 at London Heathrow.
In between pot shots at rival Virgin Airlines CEO Sir Richard […]

Read the rest » Supply Excellence

Failing Profits or Profitably Failing?: Supply Chain Risk in the Credit Freeze

According to a CFO.com survey released on Wednesday, “”[as a result of the credit crisis] 61 percent of finance chiefs are concerned about their companies’ access to day-to-day financing.” This concern is especially acute for small to mid-sized suppliers for whom short-term credit is the primary operational bridge allowing them to make it from […]

Read the rest » Supply Excellence

Wal-Mart: The Gold Standard in Immigration Compliance

Deloitte’s Ryan Flynn recently previewed the ICE (Immigration & Customs Enforcement) webinar and their Wal-Mart case study. As you likely recall, Wal-Mart received a very public PR black-eye a few years ago when some of their subcontracted cleaning crews turned out to be comprised of undocumented workers. The media hung the company out to dry […]

Read the rest » Supply Excellence

Simplifying B2B for Suppliers Enables Buyers

As an enterprise software user, you’re tired of hearing about “Web 2.0″ because, despite all of the buzz it has generated for the last few years, and all of the “value” it has delivered to consumers through Amazon, Google Apps, and Facebook, it hasn’t done a single thing for you. And it’s good that […]

Read the rest » Sourcing Innovation

Bank Credit Market Freeze: Are your suppliers being left in the cold?

Like most of you, I spent the last week glued to my financial TV news outlets, rss feeds, Wall Street Journal and (because I was traveling) the USA Today Money section, trying to make some sense of the turmoil rocking the banking sector. When giant, old institutions like Lehman Bros. and AIG fail, and […]

Read the rest » Supply Excellence

Spend Management 3.0 and Beyond

The Doctor at Sourcing Innovation created another cross-blog series, asking a number of us to give our Seven Grand Challenges for Supply and Spend Management. Some insightful posts have already tackled topics like spend data, currency, trade barriers and supply chain risks. But rather than echoing their lists, which I believe are largely right on […]

Read the rest » Supply Excellence