Director’s Blog
Pierre Mitchell of Spend Matters: Delivering Value in the Face of VUCA
Variability, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity (VUCA) – these are the conditions of the “new normal” set of operating conditions faced by most firms today in their value chains. When one layers on top of this the challenges of navigating one’s […]
State of Flux: An Update on the Current State of Supplier Relationship Management
I had the opportunity to speak at the annual SRM Summit coordinated by State of Flux, led by their leader Alan Day. Alan spoke on insights from their annual SRM “book”, which included survey results on the current state of […]
Procurement Leadership Program can help individuals market the real value of procurement to the enterprise
I recently received a great comment from Nancy Richter, President of the R. Gene and Nancy D. Richter Foundation. Gene Richter is widely known as one of the world’s true procurement gurus, and I was privileged to have known him […]
Data Analyst, Data Scientist, and Data Engineer: What’s the Difference?
Many CPO’s and CSCO’s today complain about being overwhelmed with the amount of internal and external data they are being asked to analyze to create improved supply chain outcomes. The volume and velocity of data streaming at us is increasing […]
What does the global trade chess board look like lately ?
Global trade is becoming more and more confusing, given the vast array of different tariffs, trade wars, 301’s, customs duties, and other shifts in global trade. I had the opportunity to speak with a few different industry experts this week, […]
Data Quality Is Critical To The Supply Chain Function – Did Someone Forget To Ask?
This blog post is co-written by my colleague Joseph Yacura, who came up with the brilliant idea when we were chatting yesterday! Data quality and governance has always been “important” to the supply chain function, but today it is “critical”. […]
Advice to Students Getting Ready for Internship Recruiting Season: Put Away Your Cell Phones!
Editor’s Note: This post is to address a more overarching need and general approach towards professional etiquette, and is not directed towards the use of cell phones during the college’s recruiting events themselves. Students have been instructed to use the Career […]
Physician Preference Cards: The Key to Hospital Low Inventory Utilization and Waste
Almost every hospital or IDN faces significant challenges in managing their operating room inventory, which can be traced to a simple concept: utilization. Utilization is simply a ratio of the $ value of clinical purchases BILLED to patients or insurance, […]
Counterfeit products are exploding on Amazon
A recent WSJ article highlighted a fact that confirms much of what we found in our study of counterfeit products in the supply chain a year ago: if you’re buying on Amazon, beware of counterfeits. Too cheap means too good […]
Biobased Economy GROWS in 2018
I am proud to announce the release of a joint study completed by me and my colleagues Jay Golden, PhD of East Carolina University and Jesse Daystar, PhD of Duke University. The study was published by the USDA’s Biopreferred program, […]