It has been a couple of months since I opened up the curtains and shared with you some updates about the Art of Procurement. However, I have a couple of announcements to make that I am really excited about, and I cover these in today's Art of Procurement Friday show.
Business acumen is an often cited skill needed to be successful in the "new" procurement. But what exactly is it, and how does it apply to procurement?
This was the topic of conversation in today's interview with Jim Barnes, the Managing Director of ISM Services. Jim highlights 10 different traits that he sees - in his experience helping procurement leaders increase the capabilities of their teams - that collectively make up the concept of business acumen. Jim also shares which he believes are the most important skills, and how leaders can begin to develop these capabilities in their teams.
For more information, visit http://artofprocurement.com/acumen.
Today's Friday Show is in response to a listener question: how can I get early engagement with my business stakeholders?
In this episode, I take a look back at my experiences as a practitioner, and look at the key elements that differentiated the projects where I was able to engage early and those where I was nothing more than a rubber stamp.
For more information, go to: http://artofprocurement.com/61
We hear a lot about the changing procurement skill set, and the difficulty that CPO’s are experiencing in hiring the talent they require. However, what is the reality, and if so, how can procurement leaders adjust? And how can procurement professionals stand out from the crowd?
My guest today on the Art of Procurement is Greg Tennyson, the Chief Procurement Officer of VSP Global. Greg explains why the talent shortage isn’t as black and white as it may seem, and he shares what he looks for when hiring and promoting procurement talent.
For more information, visit http://artofprocurement.com/greg
This week's Friday Show is a little different. A recurring theme in my discussions with procurement thought leaders is the need to expand the value that we bring to being more than cost savings alone. With that in mind, I started working with Joanna Martinez (former CPO and Founder of Supply Chain Advisors) and Jordan Early (Head of Research at Old Street Labs) on a series of shows dedicated to the concept of value based procurement.
Joanna, Jordan and I met earlier this week to start mapping out the series. I loved the points being raised so much that I asked Joanna and Jordan if I could hit the record button. What follows is a short conversation on what value based procurement is, and why it is so important to our future.
For more information, visit http://artofprocurement.com/valueintro
How organizations use third party procurement services like outsourcing is evolving rapidly. While only a short time ago, procurement outsourcing was synonymous with job losses, it is now being used as an enabler for growth.
In this episode of the Art of Procurement, Mike Jacobs, Chief Procurement Officer of Staples, explains how Staples uses procurement BPO to enable his internal team to focus on providing value to their stakeholders and elevating the role of procurement.
For more information, go to http://artofprocurement.com/mikejacobs
This week, rather than publish my normal Friday solo show, I am going to share another great interview. Procurement consulting firm Advanced Purchasing Dynamics (APD) recently surveyed a cross section of President's, CEO's and CFO's across the manufacturing industry to understand how they perceived the role of procurement. To any procurement professional, regardless of industry, the results were both eye opening and alarming!
Today's guest on the show is Jeoff Burris, the Founder of APD. Jeoff shares the key findings from APD's research, and how he believes that procurement leaders and professionals should react to build build stronger relationships and relevancy with the c-suite.
For show notes, visit http://artofprocurement.com/ceo
Today's guest on the Art of Procurement is Tom Derry, CEO is ISM (Institute for Supply Management). Tom and I sat down at last week's ISM 2016 Conference to discuss his key takeaways from the event, and how ISM is evolving to meet the changing needs of its members.
Tom then answered a number of quick fire questions, including a question asking if we are facing a talent deficit in procurement. Listen in to hear Tom's answer!
For show notes, visit http://artofprocurement.com/ism2016
My guest on the Art of Procurement today is John P. (Jack) Miles. There are few, if any, leaders in the procurement profession with the depth and breadth of experience as Jack. Jack has enjoyed multiple CPO roles at some of North America's largest companies and has served as Secretary of the Florida Department of Managed Services. He is currently at advisory board member at Coupa.
In today's show, Jack shares seven of the key lessons that he has learned from his career in both the private and public sectors. If you have any interest in growing your procurement career, this episode is a must listen!
For more information, visit http://artofprocurement.com/tao
I was fortunate to the be in the audience recently to listen to today’s guest, Dr Robert Handfield, give a talk on the future of procurement analytics, and the impact that access to real-time and predictive analytics will have on the procurement function. I was delighted when Rob agreed to share his thoughts with me on the Art of Procurement.
Rob talks passionately about how procurement is at in inflection point – where our ability to deliver value by using old tools such as leveraging spend is coming to an end. Rob believes that analytics will be the fuel that propels both the relevancy and maturity of procurement to the next level.
For more information, visit: http://artofprocurement.com/predictiveanalytics
Time has flown by - we have now passed a half century of shows! I have learned a TON from the thought leaders who have graciously shared their time with us to help us all collectively elevate the role of procurement.
In today's show, I take a look back at five key themes that I have taken away from the first fifty episodes. Listen to the show and you will also hear how to get my 20 page report where I share a key lesson that I learned from each episode!
For more, go to http://artofprocurement.com/5from50
The legal category of spend is often the final frontier in terms of procurement engagement. It is too complex, too nuanced and isn’t understood by anyone from outside the legal space. When we do get involved, it is often to help manage low value and commoditized services. So how do we crack the code and become a trusted partner to the legal team.
There is arguably no-one in the world more qualified to answer that question than today’s guest, Silvia Hodges Silverstein. Silvia is the Executive Director of Buying Legal Services, a Lecturer in Law at Columbia Law School, and is a widely published author, having co-written two case studies on the business of law for Harvard Business Review. Hear Silvia share the tips and tricks to becoming a trusted partner of the legal team.
http://artofprocurement.com/legalservices
Ugh, governance I hear you say! When we think of procurement governance, we think of it as a way to control our end users - as something to measure compliance against. However, it doesn't have to be like that!
I was invited to speak at a conference recently on the topic of procurement governance. My experience is that governance - if used strategically - can be the cornerstone of a strategy that enables procurement to take on a greater role within our organizations. In this Art of Procurement Friday Show, I explain why, and what your first step should be.
For show notes, including a screencast of the full length presentation, go to http://artofprocurement.com/governance.
I strongly feel that we can learn as much from people who are outside procurement as inside procurement, and that is definitely the case in today’s show. My guest today is Anna Spady, the Marketing Manager and Inbound Strategist for RFP365.
In today’s episode, I explore how procurement can learn from Marketing best practices in terms of how you can build strong relationships, and advocates, from people who may initially resist talking to you. It is the classic problem that we have in connecting with our internal stakeholders, and Anna shares a number of ways to overcome this challenge using methods that a lot of us may not have considered before.
For more information, visit: http://artofprocurement.com/marketingtips
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After a flurry of activity over the past couple of weeks – with the site redesign and then the Big Idea Week series, it is nice to get back into a normal routine this week!
And in fact, I don’t intend for today’s show to be very long at all. Rather than diving in to another subject, I would encourage you to go back and pick out a show from the Big Idea week that may not yet have already listened to.
Listen in to today's podcast for a summary of the Big Idea Week shows, and for a question that I would like to crowdsource the answer to!
This week is Big Idea Week on the Art of Procurement - a mini series of shorter interviews with procurement thought leaders ahead of their participation in the Procurious Big Idea Summit.
Today, I welcomed Martin Chilcott, Founder and CEO of 2degrees, onto the show. Martin is a serial entrepreneur and a sought after speaker who is passionate about solving our greatest supply chain sustainability challenges. In our conversation, Martin shares why sustainability is critical as we attempt to accommodate a growing global middle class, and the role that procurement can play in building sustainable supply chains through the power of collaboration.
For links and show notes, go to http://artofprocurement.com/sustainability
This week is Big Idea Week on the Art of Procurement - a mini series of shorter interviews with procurement thought leaders ahead of their participation in the Procurious Big Idea Summit.
Today's guest is Barry Ward, Senior Procurement Brand Manager at IBM. Barry and I discuss how cognitive technologies have the potential to transform procurement delivery models. Barry shares how IBM is using technology to drive automation across their internal procurement group by levering their IBM Watson platform. We talk about where this technology is on the maturity curve, and the impact this is likely to have on the procurement skill sets of the future.
For links and show notes, go to http://artofprocurement.com/ibm-watson
This week is Big Idea Week on the Art of Procurement - a mini series of shorter interviews with procurement thought leaders ahead of their participation in the Procurious Big Idea Summit.
Today's guest is Chris Browne, Chief Procurement Officer of The World Bank. The World Bank has arguably one of the most complex procurement scope's in the world, covering $44B in project spend across 173 countries. Chris and his team embarked on a three year journey to reform procurement at The World Bank, and he shares his learnings covering topics such as the impact of culture on procurement practices, where to start when planning a complex procurement transformation, and The World Bank's approach to leading procurement projects in conflict states around the world.
For links and show notes, go to http://artofprocurement.com/chris-browne
This week is Big Idea Week on the Art of Procurement - a mini series of shorter interviews with procurement thought leaders ahead of their participation in the Procurious Big Idea Summit.
In today's interview, I talked with Chris Sawchuk. Chris is a Principal, and the Global Procurement Advisory Practice Leader at The Hackett Group. Chris and I focused on the findings of Hackett's 2016 CPO Key Issues Study. As part of the conversation, we touched on CPO priorities, how world class procurement organizations are becoming trusted business advisors, and the need for CPO's to focus on agility in times of rapid change.
For links and show notes, go to http://artofprocurement.com/chris-sawchuck-hackett
This week is Big Idea Week on the Art of Procurement - a mini series of shorter interviews with procurement thought leaders ahead of their participation in the Procurious Big Idea Summit.
Today, I sat down with Gabe Perez, the Vice President of Strategy and Market Development at Coupa. Gape shares his thoughts on a number of procurement technology issues, including the potential for cognitive computing, the need to focus on the value that technology can provide to all users to ensure its success, and why open platforms are the future of procurement technology.
For links and show notes, go to http://artofprocurement.com/gabe-perez-coupa
This week is Big Idea Week on the Art of Procurement - a mini series of shorter interviews with procurement thought leaders ahead of their participation in the Procurious Big Idea Summit.
We start the week with a wide ranging conversation with Tom Derry, CEO of the Institute of Supply Management (ISM). Tom shares his thoughts on CPO priorities, the talent profile necessary to be successful in the evolving world of procurement, and why the use of social media has now become an imperative for procurement professionals.
For links and show notes, go to http://artofprocurement.com/tom-derry-ism.
In this episode of The Art Of Procurement, it's a little bit of a different show. I want to discuss a couple of items related to the show itself, and then I have some exciting news about some shows that, allbeing well, will be coming out over the next week or so.
Full show notes can be found at artofprocurement.com/rebranding
This week, I am joined once again by Terri Gallagher. You may recall I invited Terri on the show previously, back in Episode 20, to talk about the role that procurement can play in the management of the temporary labor category.
Terri is President & CEO of Gallagher and Consultants, an advisory firm that helps companies build and implement end to end workforce management strategies. Terri is an expert in the field of Human Capital Management, and specifically contingent on temporary labor, as has previously been an executive of a number of leading services providers in this space such as Adecco, Manpower and Tapfin.
Full show notes can be found here.
Today, I am going to continue a topic that I first started to discuss a couple of weeks ago on the topic of risk. We have heard a number of guests talk about the growing importance of risk, and procurement’s role in monitoring, mitigating and managing risk.
I received a listener question related to that show that I think was a great question. The question was: How do you integrate the identification of risk into the sourcing process?
Full show notes can be found at artofprocurement.com/38
My guest today is Bill Michels. Bill is very well known in the procurement and supply chain professions across the US. He is currently the founder and CEO of Aripart Consulting, following a 23 year career leading ADR North America.
Bill is a sought after speaker, and I was delighted when Bill agreed to be on the show, without hesitation.
With such a wealth of knowledge, it was hard to select a single topic to discuss in today’s show. However, what we decided to focus on is the megatrends – that are outside of our control – but that are impacting both what, and how, he buy.
Full show notes can be found at artofprocurement.com/megatrends