Working Capital Management

May 20, 2025

Current issues facing supply chain managers in an era of uncertainty

I was recently asked about a few questions related to how managers should be navigating the waters around the tariff uncertainty, AI, contracting, and a host of other issues. Here…

Jan 31, 2018

Thoughts on Supply Chain Impacts (After Listening to Trump’s State of the Union)

I listened to all one and a half hours of Trump’s State of the Union address last night, and while it was certainly very positive in terms of the economy,…

Jul 29, 2017

Managerial Practice Will Need to Catch up with the Emergence of Real-time Supply Chains

In my new book “The Living Supply Chain” co-written with Tom Linton, we reflect on the new capabilities required to be able to work with the evolving imperative of real-time…

Jun 27, 2017

Assessing the True Return of Procurement Transformation on Total Shareholder Return: A Tough Proposition

In my earlier book with Gerard Chick on “The Procurement Value Proposition“, we advance the notion that buildoing a business case for investing in people, process, and technology improvement in…

Nov 24, 2016

Who Owns Contract Management of Major Projects: Procurement or the Business?

Proponents of integrated supply management propose that successful Contract Management (both pre and post award) requires a collaboration between the business functions (Engineering, Operations, Maintenance) that have the need (demand,…

Nov 13, 2016

Van Horne Institute Considers Alaska Transport Route, and Weighs Trump's Plans for Keystone XL

On election night last week, I was stationed in Calgary Alberta, watching the results unfold in Mountain Time, and wondering what was going on in the country I’ve adopted as…

Mar 15, 2016

What are Block Chains? – Jason Busch on the Future of Money, Trust and Transparency

Jason Busch provided a great view on Block Chains, and their impact on the future of funds in the supply chain, at the Global Procurement Tech Summit in Baltimore. Jason…

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…

Oct 29, 2015

Procurement as a Non-Profit Center for Supply Chain Risk Consolidation

I spent some time this week with a group of procurement executives from Restaurant Supply Chain Solutions, a company that conducts all of the procurement and supply chain activity for…

May 24, 2015

Minority Supplier Payment Term Challenges at Diversity Alliance 4 Science: In the Shark Tank!

I participated in the Diversity Alliance 4 Science event last week held in Newark, NJ. For those of you who don’t know, this is a fantastic event held by most…