Supply chain Relationships

Feb 3, 2016

Transparency is the new Sustainability

The focus on corporate sustainability often calls for companies to increase transparency in all aspects of an organization’s operations, and much more so in the supply chain. Apparel and electronics companies that… 

Jan 26, 2016

"Collaboration" is becoming a bad word…in some circles

The concept of “Collaboration” has been getting a lot of grief lately. For instance, recent articles in the Harvard Business Review and the Economist emphasize that collaboration has reached the… 

Nov 30, 2015

Only 1 Week Until the Supply Chain Analytics Conference at NC State!

With only one week left prior to our upcoming SCRC meeting, students are busily preparing their final posters, putting the finishing touches on their presentations, and getting ready to meet… 

Nov 26, 2015

Black Friday isn't What it Used to Be…E-Commerce has Changed the Landscape

As retailers prepare for “Black Friday”, what used to be the “biggest shopping day of the year” (the day after Thanksgiving), expectations are actually rather low.  A reporter on CNN… 

Nov 12, 2015

Will Purchasing Be Replaced by Agile Contracting and Relationship Management?

I had the opportunity to visit with Tim Cummins and Katherine Kawamoto from IACCM, who came by the SCRC offices yesterday to chat.  We spent some time catching up on… 

Oct 12, 2015

Change Management in Moving from Tactical to Strategic Sourcing

I had the opportunity to host a panel of Chief Procurement Officers at the Zycus Horizons 2015 meeting on October 5, 2015, on the subject of the journey organizations take… 

Sep 3, 2015

Interview: Get ready for Supply Chain Outlook conference!

The Supply Chain Management Review, one of the leading practitioner journals in the field of supply chain, is hosting their first ever conference in November at the Rosemount Hilton at… 

Aug 1, 2015

Needed: An Analytics Platform to Support the New Face of Procurement Transformation

As organizations continue to discuss the notion of procurement value transformation, there is a noticeable gap between the stated intentions of organizations to pursue value, and their actions as they… 

Jul 22, 2015

Legal Experts Need to be Front and Center in Negotiating Software Contracts

I had the opportunity to engage in a negotiation seminar with a large insurance company last week, and had the team work on a software contract role play.  In the… 

Jul 17, 2015

A Tale of Two Procurement Books: Cox's Sourcing Portfolio Analysis (Cox) & Strategic Sourcing in the New Economy (Keith et al.)

A new face of procurement is emerging which is recognizing that a new set of value drivers must be developed in the face of massive environmental changes. Some of the…