Simon Sinek’s viral video rant on millennials in the workplace is interesting from beginning to end. Perhaps a bit condescending to millennials in many parts, but important in how it captures perceptions of millennials and challenges in our technology-driven world. There are three aspects of this video that I think procurement professionals need to pay attention to: The culture in which…
Though procurement departments are way more respected than they were 20-30 years ago, there is still work to do. There are still some procurement departments that have vestiges of years past: seats filled by procurement people and not procurement professionals. I am occasionally reminded of this when I have an encounter with a procurement person who clearly doesn’t know how…
A good friend of mine recently found himself looking for a job in the purchasing/supply chain/procurement/strategic sourcing realm. He asked me to pass along his resume to any employer in my network who may be looking for talent such as his. I just. Couldn’t. Do it. Why not? Well, his resume simply looked sloppy to me. I thought his resume…
Although we’ve already written much on dividing procurement departments into tactical and strategic teams, it is worth discussing other potential ways to slice the procurement activity pie. In most procurement departments that are split into tactical and strategic teams, the tactical work includes order placement, expediting, and resolving day-to-day issues. And the strategic work includes sourcing, negotiation, and supplier management.…
Special thanks to Source One Management Services for this guest post An event budget is a moving target. There are numerous factors influencing the final cost for your event that are continually changing throughout the course of your planning and up until the day of. As a result, oftentimes final budgets are not reconciled until a few weeks post…
Much of the never-ceasing US political talk this week has centered around President Trump’s signing of an executive order to benefit historically black colleges and universities. According to the Portland Press Herald‘s sources, this executive order is “expected to strengthen the office that pushes the federal government to do business with the colleges by moving it to the White House…