The Purch-lympics start tomorrow. It looks like this will be a lot of fun, with purchasing essays having been submitted from around the world.

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Be sure to check this blog every day and vote for your purchasing peers.

Because this blog will be tied up with the Purch-lympics for most of the next two weeks, I wanted to add one non-Purch-lympics entry prior to then.

The most valuable thing that I think a purchasing and supply management professional can do for his or her career is to learn everything s/he can about purchasing and supply management. The second most valuable thing is to learn about senior management and, specifically, how senior management thinks.

I just read an excellent whitepaper called “Avoid Corporate Death: Nine Essential Elements Will Keep The Reaper From Your Company’s Door” by fellow Pittsburgh supply chain blogger, Robert Rudzki. This whitepaper is really written for CEO’s, but I believe that it can give non-C-level employees an insight into what makes their company’s leadership tick.

An interesting section of the whitepaper talks about the value of getting an external assessment on how your company stacks up with regard to those “nine essential elements.” One of the groups that Rudzki suggests consulting with is your suppliers.

I definitely agree with him on this one. Suppliers are uniquely positioned to evaluate your company. They work closely with you and get to evaluate how you operate. Many of them study your company and try to figure out your strength financially. And they see what your competitors are doing and doing better than you.

As I stated in my recent vlog on the history of purchasing, the supply base is a tremendous source for ideas, improvements, and innovations. Hopefully, Rudzki’s whitepaper will get CEO’s thinking about suppliers in a new way and will value Purchasing’s ability to bring suppliers to the table for more collaboration and greater profit.

Recommended Reading

Write a Good Essay and Get a High Grade Using Writing Tools
The Supply Risk You Need To Address Before Leaving The Office Today
Reverse Auctions STILL Controversial? Come On!
Suppliers’ Role In Your Company’s Survival
New Negotiation Vlog