Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time.
Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement.
Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.
“When you can demonstrate short-term success and communicate it – both inside and outside the company – it helps to smooth the pathway to the funding, staffing, and commitment required for longer-term impactful change.” – Lois Eichacker, VP of Customer Success, Supplier.io
Supplier diversity is one of the most meaningful, impactful, and important corporate programs led by procurement, and a growing number of organizations are making supplier diversity a top priority. But creating a scalable supplier diversity program that can grow with the business, withstand changing political and economic landscapes, and sustain itself over time requires a unique set of strategies and tactics.
To better understand how procurement can build a strong supplier diversity program, Philip Ideson and Kelly Barner spoke with Daniel Dorr, VP of Marketing, and Lois Eichacker, VP of Customer Success, both from Supplier.io. As Daniel and Lois shared, a solid supplier diversity program is characterized by transparency, clear communication of expectations, and data-driven decision making.
In this episode, based on an AOP Live session, Daniel and Lois discuss:
Links:
Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time.
Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement.
Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.
“Services are relationship-based from a procurement perspective, whether that means the relationship procurement needs to have with the business to be successful or the relationship the company has with the service provider.” - Philip Ideson.
This week’s episode of the podcast provides a behind the scenes look at Art of Procurement’s ongoing research into services procurement - research that everyone in our listening audience and social following is encouraged to participate in.
Management of services categories has changed substantially in recent years, driven by the rise of contract work, freelancing, and contingent labor. With an increasing number of professionals working remotely, the barriers to accessing external talent are undergoing yet another adjustment.
In this conversation, Philip Ideson and Kelly Barner talk through some of the data points that form the core of the survey, sharing their perspective on the business outcomes and procurement processes in question.
Procurement organizations in all industries and geographies will want to benchmark themselves against the following themes covered in the survey, which only takes 5-7 minutes to complete:
Links:
Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time.
Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement.
Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.
“If you look at the strategic sourcing process, I think it was made for complex categories. That’s one of the things that makes this so exciting as a potential lighthouse project. It’s a great opportunity for procurement to say, ‘This is why we do this. This is all of the value we can add.’” – Benjamin Lambert, Principal at Efficio
Navigating complex spend categories can be challenging for procurement – the stakes tend to be high, stakeholder resistance is real, and the category may be nuanced or unfamiliar to procurement. At the same time, complex spend categories give procurement some of the best opportunities to flex their strategic muscles and demonstrate the depth and breadth of value they can provide across the business.
To understand how procurement should leverage the opportunity associated with complex spend categories, Philip Ideson spoke with Ben Lambert, Principal at Efficio. According to Ben, procurement needs a mindset shift when it comes to complex spend - it is time for procurement to get excited about complex spend categories rather than fearing the potential risks.
In this episode, Ben and Phil talk about:
Links:
Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time.
Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement.
Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.
“If this is something that you want to tackle, it is not a lone wolf-type project. You’re going to need the support of the business. Having the right partner or the right shepherd in the organization can make a really meaningful difference.” --Brian Salkowski, Chief Operating Officer at Guidant Global
Decisions about how a company manages their external talent management program should not be taken lightly. There are many factors contributing to complexity, including varied expectations, a high bar for efficiency and effectiveness requirements, and the fact that no two people on the planet offer quite the same combination of capabilities.
In this episode, Philip Ideson and Kelly Barner interview Brian Salkowski, Chief Operating Officer at Guidant Global, and Marie France, Contingent Workforce Management and Procurement Operations Expert at Guidant Global.
They discuss opportunities to elevate services procurement without disrupting the internal team or the stakeholders that rely upon that source of talent:
Links:
Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time.
Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement.
Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.
“If you were to step back and look at the output of all these companies’ RFPs, I think what you are trying to get as procurement is not these wonky proposals. You're trying to engage in a very dynamic conversation, because even in software, the way in which we configure and support and train are all really better had as a live dialogue.” - Chris Mele, Managing Partner at Software Pricing Partners
Most procurement practitioners would probably acknowledge that there is plenty of room for improvement when it comes to the structure and process associated with RFPs, especially for SaaS spend. Creating a fair, level playing field in the RFP process is a common challenge, and there’s often a lack of agility or customization: too much reliance on a one-size-fits-all sourcing approach.
To better understand the supplier’s perspective and what pain points affect overall business outcomes, Philip Ideson spoke with Chris Mele, Managing Partner at Software Pricing Partners. Chris first appeared on the podcast two years ago to represent a sales perspective on the RFP process. In this follow-up episode, he returns to talk about improvements he has seen and to break down what is still not working.
In this episode, Chris and Phil discuss:
Why procurement should opt for a two-way dialogue instead of a one-sided RFP
Links:
Chris Mele on LinkedIn
“A Sales Perspective on Software Pricing and the RFP Process” with Chris Mele
Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time.
Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement.
Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.
“The largest corporations that spend the most on business travel are generally at about 75% of their 2019 spend, and they seem to be plateauing there. The growth is really coming from the small and mid-sized enterprises – those are the ones that are powering the recovery.” - Scott Gillespie, Founder & CEO of tClara
The current state of business travel is in an interesting place, characterized by a healthy dose of cautious optimism and adaptability that’s counter-balanced by concerns over climate implications and the rising cost of travel.
The post-pandemic “recovery” that we all expected is indeed underway, but it has also exposed some hesitancy in the market as some business travelers have grown to prefer the convenience (and low cost) of Zoom over in-person travel.
To discuss this and more, I recently welcomed back Scott Gillespie to the podcast. Scott is the founder and CEO of tClara, a company that provides advice, thought leadership, and innovation to business travel industry stakeholders.
Scott is an industry-leading expert on travel strategy, carbon emissions, justifiable travel, traveler friction, and trip valuation. He has also worked across the travel industry and got his start in the ATK strategic sourcing practice of the 1990s while managing the corporate travel category.
Scott was first on the podcast all the way back in 2016, and we recently reconnected over a piece of research that he has undertaken called “The Justified Business Trip” that measures the ROI of individual business trips and its usage in managing travel demand.
In this episode, we also discussed the current health of the business travel category. Scott has recently attended the 2023 GBTA conference, and I started by asking him some of his takeaways from the event.
We covered things like:
Links:
Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time.
Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement.
Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.
“Yes, change is hard to manage and process at any level which is why I always recommend that you give change in bite-sized pieces. Bring people along the way.”
Chandell Shorter, Senior Consultant of Change Management, Corcentric
Change, especially large-scale change, can be hard, overwhelming, or even scary for some people, but it’s also an inevitable part of life and work. Procurement professionals often find themselves at the very center of critical change management projects, leading change around processes, technology, talent management, and skills development, all of which can have profound effects on the company morale and culture.
How can procurement lead the business through this change without implementing it in a way that it backfires or creates resistance?
In this episode, based on an AOP Live session, Chandell Shorter, Senior Consultant of Change Management at Corcentric, and Joe Payne, SVP Source-to-Pay at Corcentric, discussed everything procurement should know about change management with host Kelly Barner.
They covered:
Links:
Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time.
Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement.
Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.
“There are two ideal profiles for a procurement founder … you have industry veterans that live the problem, feel the pain, go out and create a solution to solve that pain. That’s been a tale as old as time. … There’s also serial entrepreneurs that don’t have a procurement background but understand a problem and want to go study it and bring on others to help them.”
In recent years, there has been an “explosion” of procurement tech startups. But not all procurement startups are able to reach their full potential.
In this episode from Digital Outcomes 2023, Philip Ideson speaks with Jack Freeman, procure tech investor and Partner at PeakSpan Capital, about the challenges and opportunities procurement tech startups face, particularly in category specialized solutions like SaaS, vertical software, finance, or construction.
Jack shares his perspective on:
Links:
Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time.
Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement.
Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.
As companies face the weight of inflation and the potential for recession, executives are reevaluating their decentralized approaches to procurement management and decision making. Instead, many organizations are making the move back toward centralized procurement models to keep a sharp eye on the bottom line. The focus has shifted from viewing cost savings as a 'nice-to-have' to a necessity for operational continuity.
In this episode, based on a recent AOP Live session, Mu Wagh, Chief Operating Officer at Procure Analytics, and Matt Reddington, their Vice President of Operations, discuss how a strong corporate culture can help companies navigate challenging economic times as they transition to centralized control in procurement.
Mu and Matt provide valuable advice on how to strike a balance in the transition to centralized control without adding friction into the procurement process or doing harm to the organizational culture.
Links:
Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time.
Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement.
Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.
“If the C-suite doesn't understand the full procurement value proposition, then they will make decisions that impact procurement without really understanding the negative effects of those decisions.”
Philip Ideson, Founder & Managing Director, Art of Procurement
Believe it or not, 2023 if officially halfway over. It seems like just yesterday (or 10 years ago) that we were sharing our first podcast episode of the new year.
In this week’s episode, Philip Ideson and Kelly Barner sit down to talk about the half of the year gone by as well as what they think the second half of 2023 has in store.
They talk about:
Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time.
Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement.
Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.
“The pandemic made everything about value. I believe that all healthcare premises – along with insurance systems and the patients themselves – became much more focused on the concept of value.”
Few industries faced the same level of challenge that healthcare did during the pandemic. Everyone from doctors, to support staff, to procurement was pushed to do their best on behalf of patients. As they cooperated to overcome these difficulties, each stakeholder group was changing a little bit - sometimes in ways that would alter their perspective on the experience forever.
In this episode, Philip Ideson interviews Heba Farouk, Chief Supply Chain Officer for Saudi German Health and one of the first practitioner executives Art of Procurement has featured from the Middle East. She shares her firsthand experience with the operational and perception-based evolution of procurement and supply chain in the healthcare industry.
During the conversation, they discussed:
Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time.
Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement.
Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.
“To increase confidence within the C-suite, procurement must show it can work within the business to address internal risks and create value. Procurement teams need to meet their internal stakeholders where they are and break down the barriers that prevent them from achieving the best outcomes for the business.”
The global procurement landscape is rapidly evolving to better align with the strategic vision and mission of the organization. Business leaders value the impact that procurement teams can have in their organizations, and they’re especially pleased with procurement’s ability to tackle external risk. However, confidence wanes when they consider procurement’s ability to collaborate internally.
At SAP Sapphire 2023, Philip Ideson had the opportunity to speak with Baber Farooq, Senior Vice President and Head of Market Strategy for SAP Procurement Solutions. They discussed the findings of a new research study by Economist Impact: Decoding Confidence in the Procurement Function. The study surveyed 500 executives, including CFOs, COOs, CPOs, CSCOs, and CHROs in early 2023 and the resulting report explores how these executives perceive procurement’s performance today and how it needs to evolve for the future.
During the conversation they discussed:
Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time.
Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement.
Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.