Supply chain Relationships
What does”Supplier Relationship Management” really mean?
In a report I worked on in 2013, I conducted interviews conducted with 25 chief procurement officers (CPOs) on one of the most important drivers of value creation and resilience that is often overlooked: harnessing the power of innovation […]
Force Majeure: A Non-Issue When it Comes to COVID Supply Chain Disruptions
Early in the pandemic, many lawyers were licking their chops, thinking about the stream of force majeure lawsuits that would be coming their way, with manufacturers suing suppliers, and vice versa, all using force majeure as a contractual escape hatch […]
Will People Ever Go Back to Work in an Office?
As we continue to plow through the difficult times, with COVID cases spiking in multiple states across the country, the hopes for a normal return to the workplace is diminishing every day. It is unlikely that we will ever return […]
Apple Procurement Leader Hails from NC State
Today’s WSJ front page shares the important role of one of Apple’s top senior executives who runs much of the procurement and supply chain activity for Apple – Tony Blevins. Mr. Blevins studied industrial engineering at North Carolina State, and […]
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 […]
First NCSU Procurement Leadership Program a Great Success!
We held our first ever Procurement Leadership workshop this week, hosting a group of executives from Altria, American Red Cross, Cheniere Energy, Smith & Nephew, RSCS (YUM! Brands) and the US Air Force. The mix of executives from both the […]
Closing the Gap Between Buyers and Sellers: “Everything is Changed, Nothing is Different”
We hosted an extremely successful set of speakers at our SCRC meeting this past week. One of my core beliefs, that I’ve espoused over the 30 years that I’ve been working in this field, is that working together for mutually […]
Can Technology Improve Contract Renewal Processes? Paper 4 in the Series on Contract Management
Our fourth paper in our series on contract management features a great summary by Sara Sonderman, who pulls together some great information on the application of technology in contract management and renewals. Lots to think about here… and also a […]
SCRC Meeting: Closing the Gap Between Marketing and Procurement
Our upcoming SCRC meeting on April 25 will explore a topic that has been top of mind for me and several other people for some time. To give you a clue as to what this is about, consider the typical […]