Today’s Art of Procurement interview is a real treat.  It is chock full of actionable insights on how we can position our careers, and our organizations, to fully take advantage of digitization and its impact on what, and how, we buy.

My guest is Bill Huber.   Bill is an active participant in the procurement community and I have followed his career for some time.  Bill has worked as a practitioner – most recently as Chief Procurement Officer of Wachovia - as a service provider as head of IBM’s procurement outsourcing offering - and as a consultant and advisor.  Today, Bill is a Partner at Information Services Group (ISG), responsible for Digital Platforms and Solutions.

Areas we cover in today’s conversation include:

• Has Bill’s experience as practitioner, service provider and advisor changed his perspective on the procurement value proposition?
• Why many procurement organizations have become the enemy of differentiation.
• What procurement can do to have maximum impact on an organization.
• Why changing metrics matters – especially to those companies that achieve real transformation… and where procurement can start.
• What does “digital” really mean?
• What will the impact of digitization on what and how we buy?
• Will technology render much of procurement redundant, and where should we focus to change our value proposition?
• How can procurement align with the digital economy:?
  • New ways of segmenting spend, so that you can focus on what is truly material.
  • Options for accessing capability, so that retained teams can focus only on what makes their business a competitive advantage.
  • Rethink contracts and contractual SLA’s to ensure they are fit for purpose and incent all parties to focus on the delivery of outcomes.

For more information, visit: http://artofprocurement.com/billhuber

“We never put our own priorities first. If I save money and diminish my stakeholders ability to succeed, then I am counter productive and they are not going to use me again.” – Greg Antoniono, Anthem

Today on the show, I am joined by Greg Antoniono.  Greg is the Sourcing Director for Marketing at Anthem, one of the giants of the US Health Care industry

Over the course of the last eight years, Greg has taken his marketing procurement group on a journey from having very limited influence to being a key partner with a direct line to the Chief Marketing Officer.

In today’s show, Greg and I discuss the key steps and learnings that he, and Anthem, took on that journey.

Areas we cover include:

• The major steps that enabled Anthem Marketing to become a trusted partner to their business stakeholders.
• The importance of executive level support.
• Why you should never put your own priorities first.
• Why Greg believes why products or services should not be immediately labelled as commoditized when they historically may have been so.
• The biggest disruptions impacting marketing stakeholders at the beginning of 2017.
• Why Anthem embraces small businesses and start up’s – including making direct investments – as a way to identify and facilitate supplier-led innovation.
• Greg’s biggest learnings on the journey to date – including the need to evolve to remain relevant, align, and recognize where you can add value.

For more information, visit: http://artofprocurement.com/anthem 

January 2017 marks the first month of a new collaboration that I am very excited about.  I am co-hosting a new monthly show, imaginatively titled The Month in Procurement, with Mark Perera. 

Mark is the CEO and Founder of Old St Labs, the Founder of Procurement Leaders, and as I have got to know him, I see how passionate he is about levering innovation and technology to help businesses really harness the power of their supply networks.

The show is meant to be a conversation.  We’ll be bringing in other people to join us every month to just chat about the issues of the day and their impact on procurement, and, frankly, anything that we have on our mind!

I’ll be leaving the edit button at home, so what we say, is what you will hear!

This Month in Procurement will have its own podcast channel that you can subscribe to, and I’ll let you know when that is ready to go.

However, for this month, I’m including our conversation in the Art of Procurement feed. 

I hope you like it – let me know what you think.

For more information, visit: http://thismonthinprocurement.com 

My guest on today’s show is Mark Webb. Mark is the Managing Director of UK based procurement consultancy firm, Future Purchasing.

Following experience as a practitioner and then in consulting with PwC and QP Group, Mark co-founded Future Purchasing, and they have grown from strength to strength since their inception back in 2002.

Future Purchasing undertakes what I think is the leading piece of industry research on the subject of Category Management.

They just put the final touches on their 2017 Global Category Management Leadership Report, a research collaboration with Henley Business School.

What I wanted to do in my conversation with Mark is to pick apart some of the key findings, and understand what differentiates the leaders from followers in terms of their approach to category management, and the subsequent results that they enjoy.

Areas we cover include:

• Why Category Management should be a business process, not a procurement process.
• The background behind the development of the Category Management Leadership Report.
• What differentiates a leader from a follower.
• A summary of the key recommendations from the report, highlighting areas with procurement control, and those that require stakeholder engagement.

For more information, visit: http://artofprocurement.com/fpsurvey

Today’s guest on the Art of Procurement is Mark Trowbridge, the co-founder and Principal for Strategic Procurement Solutions, and the former Director of Sourcing and Contracts at Bank of America.

Mark is a published author, and a regular presenter at procurement and supply chain conferences. In fact, it was at the recent ISM Indirect conference in December that Mark and I met. As I got to know Mark I knew that I needed to invite him onto the show, and fortunately he accepted my invite without reservation.

The main topic of today’s conversation is the notion of procurement superheroes – what are their characteristics, how can procurement leaders best deploy, and retain them. 

However, as you will hear in the interview, we discuss much more than that!

Areas we cover include:

• Why procurement is making a shift back to full value procurement
• Why CPO’s are being replaced by business leaders, and what procurement leaders can do to stop the trend.
• Why e-auctions and competitive bidding events do not always lead you to the lowest cost, and what you can do instead.
• The 6 key attributes of procurement superheroes, and how they are changing as the procurement value proposition evolves.
• How can a procurement leader build an environment to help all employees act at a superhero level.
• Mark explains the concept of taking intelligence risks that has had a big impact on his thinking.
• What are the right ways and wrong ways to position savings reporting?

Mark’s two resolutions for procurement in 2017.

For more information, visit: http://artofprocurement.com/sps

Welcome to 2017!  In this first show of the year, I share details of Art of Procurement's publishing schedule in 2017, invite applications to a new AOP Circle of Experts, and share thoughts on facilitating innovation following a recent visit to a startup accelerator program.

For more information, visit: http://artofprocurement.com/ep116

So here we are: The Best of 2016 List.

As the year comes to a close, I sat down to consider which episodes have been the most powerful and impactful in 2016.  Some of these have been my personal favorites, others determined by download numbers.  What I did try to do is to make the list as diverse as possible, and it features interviews with CPO's, CEO's, Founders, Educators and Consultants.  There should be something for everyone here!  

For more information, visit: http://artofprocurement.com/bestof16

Pierre Mitchell was the first supply chain practitioner to become a procurement "industry analyst" with roles at AMR Research (now Gartner) followed by The Hackett Group, and now Spend Matters. There are few people, if any, that cover procurement than understand, and have such passion for, the growth of our profession.

Both Pierre and I were together last week at the ISM Inside Indirect Conference 2016 in Las Vegas, and so we picked up the mic’s and hit record! So, today’s show is an informal chat covering a range of topics.

Areas we cover include: 

• What challenges in procurement is Pierre motivated to try and help solve?
• Has procurement evolved over 2016 or as we still in the same position, with the same challenges and questions, as we were 12 months ago?
• How can we differentiate marketing hype with reality when it comes to potentially game changing technologies?
• What is the most overused and most underused procurement KPI?

For more information, visit: http://artofprocurement.com/ismindirect 

On today's Art of Procurement, I answer a listener question. The question was: how do you make a supplier happy.

Now, I’m going to assume that the right answer isn’t to give them riches for providing peanuts! So, I sat down and thought through 6 different ways that I think we can all put at least a half smile on the faces of our suppliers this Christmas!

For more information, visit: http://artofprocurement.com/113 

I will be in Las Vegas this week at the ISM Indirect Conference, and with Las Vegas also known as Sin City, I thought it would be fun to look back at some old Art of Procurement episodes and come up with a list of 10 sins of procurement!

Now, frankly, there are a lot more than 10!  However, I had to stop somewhere! These are inspired by my own experiences, and the guests that we have had on the show.  I kept them to what I think are our day to day dealings with suppliers and stakeholders rather than looking at it from an organizational design perspective.

For more information, visit: http://artofprocurement.com/procurement-sins 

This week I welcome Gordon Donovan on to the Art of Procurement.  Gordon is a presently a member of the procurement leadership team at Metro Trains Melbourne, and he has a broad range of experiences as a practitioner including Head of Procurement roles, consultant and training.

Gordon's career spans both the UK and Australia, and includes roles at organizations such as the UK National Health Service, Transport for London, Healthscope, ArcBlue and The Faculty.

Today, we are going to discuss influence and I’m willing to say that there are few, if any, who have studied the topic of influence and procurement as thoroughly as Gordon.  He wrote a 20,000 word dissertation for his Masters Degree on the topic of the development of influencing skills within the Australian procurement community, and he frequently weaves the topic into his procurement learning and development programs.

Areas we cover include:

• The need to demystify procurement
• The difference between functional influence and influencing skills.
• The importance of facilitation skills
• An overview of different influencing styles and how to determine which style you should use depending on who you are seeking to influence
• Why kids are the best influencers and what we can learn from them
• Key traits of a successful influencer
• The power of inspiration
• Gordon’s tips for building trust, which is the foundation of building influence.

For more information, visit: http://artofprocurement.com/influence 

With it being a holiday weekend here in the United States, I thought I would do is share with you one of my favorite submissions from The Procurement Revolution event from back in late September.

More and more, I believe the mindset is a key enabler or roadblock in our efforts to think differently and elevate the procurement value proposition. 

Without that change in mindset, it makes the other necessities – such as competency development – almost irrelevant.  And so I wanted to focus today in the topic of mindset.

Today’s piece was one that I really enjoyed.

It is a submission from Elisabeth Lawrence.  Elisabeth is a long time procurement executive who just after we recorded todays piece joined a leading materials company to set up their Category Management Center of Excellence.

You will hear Elisabeth talk about the need to shift mindsets if we are to take procurement to the next level.

For more information, visit: http://artofprocurement.com/mindset-shift 

Scott Gillespie is an expert in procurement, and corporate travel.  He was an original member of the AT Kearney team that launched the 7-step sourcing process in the 1990’s, and has since founded a number of companies with a focus on helping organizations better understand, benchmark and measure the performance of their corporate travel programs.  Scott also authors the popular blog Gillespie’s Guide to Travel & Procurement.

Scott passionately believes that corporate travel programs should be managed on outcomes and value, rather than cost alone.  In today’s Art of Procurement, Scott and I discuss innovative ways in which procurement leaders can manage the success of their travel program over and above the traditional cost-focused metrics.

Areas we cover include: 

• The basic key metrics that are foundational to any corporate travel program.
• The best sources of data for gathering travel spend information.
• Cost drivers that have the biggest impact on travel spend.
• An introduction to the concept of traveler friction.
• The importance of taking into account trip outcomes vs. just focusing on trip cost.
• What constitutes a “road warrior” and should they be subject to different travel policies vs. irregular travelers.
• An overview of four key metrics that enable value-focused measurement of a corporate travel program:
  • Scrap rate of travel
  • Traveler risk management index
  • Attrition rate of road warrior population
  • Trip quality

For more information, visit: http://artofprocurement.com/travelmetrics

Today's episode is in response to a listener question.  I was recently asked for guidance on how to maintain supplier relationships following a tough incumbent negotiation - particularly one that occurs mid-contract. 

Listen in to hear my share five considerations that I have used both as a practitioner and service provider to maintain relationships with my suppliers and clients following difficult negotiations.

For more information, visit: http://artofprocurement.com/toughnegotiation 

Jimmy Anklesaria is one of the most prominent thought leaders in procurement today.  Jimmy is considered by many as the go-to expert when it comes to the strategic management of cost. He literally wrote the book (well, two books), and regularly travels the globe helping organizations reduce their third party costs.  Importantly, he does this not through the leveraging of power but by using data as the foundation of fact based sourcing and continuous improvement.

Today’s episode of the Art of Procurement is the second in a two-part series with Jimmy focusing on the strategic management of cost.  

Back in episode 102, Jimmy shared his tips for understanding cost and cost drivers to enable fact based sourcing negotiations.  Today, we shift focus, and discuss eight key steps that procurement professionals can take to manage and optimize costs once the contract has been signed.

Areas we cover include:

• Should we have clauses in contracts that enable flexible pricing as major cost drivers change? If so, how should those be structured?
• Why a consumer price index (CPI) is the worst possible mechanism by which to adjust prices.
• The eight steps that procurement professionals can use to manage cost post contracting including
  • Building a cost-management culture with your supplier
  • Identifying the factors which have the biggest impact on the cost of a product or service
  • How to reduce, change or eliminate activities that create costs.
• The importance of inherent capabilities in building a cost management culture across your procurement organization.

For more information, visit: http://artofprocurement.com/postawardcost

I sat down to record today's episode just a couple of hours after Donald Trump emerged victorious in the US presidential election.  And today, I am going to replay a discussion with CPO and former Chief Risk Officer Susan Grelling that I first published in the aftermath of the UK Brexit vote early in the year.

In our conversation, Susan shared the steps that procurement can take to help our organizations turn the management of market uncertainty and volatility into a competitive advantage.

For more information, visit: http://artofprocurement.com/trumpelected

In today’s Art of Procurement we take a look inside the career journey of Alex Brown, long time Chief Procurement Officer for Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and GLOBALFOUNDRIES, and winner of the 2013 Zycus High Performing Procurement Leader award.

In this wide ranging discussion focused on developing a long term career in procurement, Alex shares a number of key decision points that he had to make on his journey to becoming a CPO.  

Listen in to the conversation to hear Alex’s perspective on a number of issues facing today’s procurement professional, including: 

• The value of having sales experience as a differentiator within procurement.
• Is there value in pursuing a professional procurement certification?
• The importance of “destabilizing” from your comfort zone.
• How you can lead transformation programs as a legacy employee.
• The keys for a Manager to put themselves in the best possible position to become a Director, and for a Director to become a Head of Procurement / CPO.
• The importance of dedicating enough time as a leader to the forward looking and strategic aspects of a job in face of the demands to solve today’s problems.
• The two things that Alex knows now that he wished he would have known earlier in his career.

For more information, visit: http://artofprocurement.com/careerdecisions

Today is the Art of Procurement's first birthday!

What a crazy, and rewarding, 12 months it has been.  

Today I go behind the scenes at the Art of Procurement.  I look back at the first 12 months and reflect how the show has evolved over the past 12 months - and importantly what are some of the lessons that I have learned.  Not procurement lessons, but lessons from my journey as a podcast host.

I then look forward to 2017.  What are some of the things I want to do better?  If you are interested in my vision for the next 12 months, I'm happy to share, warts and all!

Thanks for joining my on this journey to help elevate the role of procurement.  I have learned A TON, and I hope you have too!

For more information, visit: http://artofprocurement.com/turning1 

Jimmy Anklesaria is one of the most prominent thought leaders in procurement today.  Jimmy is considered by many as the go-to expert when it comes to the strategic management of cost. He literally wrote the book (well, two books), and regularly travels the globe helping organizations reduce their third party costs.  Importantly, he does this not through the leveraging of power but by using data as the foundation of fact based sourcing and continuous improvement. 

Jimmy had so much information to share that we recorded two separate shows!  These cover the strategic management of cost from initial sourcing to end of contract. 

Today, we focus on the initial sourcing and negotiation process. Jimmy shares a number of insights, including:

• Why as a young company Director he did not understand the importance of procurement, and what his light bulb moment was.
• The most important part of the negotiation process
• Why business deals have to be win-win to be sustainable over the long term
• What a procurement professional can do to better understand the cost of a product or service before they begin a negotiation
• How you can use publicly available information to develop should-cost models based on understanding key cost drivers
• Whether you need to pay for data or not.
• Why, while you can acquire data from third parties or a central COE, a procurement professional must not abdicate responsibility for understanding the costs and cost drivers of a product or service.

This conversation was an eye-opener for me, particularly as we consider how to apply cost management techniques that are prevalent in the procurement of Direct materials to Indirect services.

For more information, visit http://artofprocurement.com/costmanagement 

I was thrilled to be a part of the Zycus event as the media partner for the conference. As part of the partnership, I was able to moderate a main stage panel event and present a separate session in the leadership tract. In today's episode, I provide an overview of the two sessions that I was involved in.

I also share my key takeaways from the activities that I was able to attend - with topics such as the Internet of Things, Relevancy of Procurement, Procurement Innovation and the role of technology in procurement as a competitive advantage (the answer may surprise you).

For more information, and to download a copy of my slides from session that I led, visit http://artofprocurement.com/horizontakeaways 

Unless you are new to the show, you will have heard me talk all about The Procurement Revolution event that I co-organized with Kelly Barner of Buyers Meeting Point. 

We were thrilled with how the event panned out. We had 40 revolutionaries, over 50 pieces of content and five live Q&A interviews throughout the week. 

We learned a ton from the things that went well, and the things that didn’t.  One of my regrets was that I wasn’t able to dedicate as much time as I would have liked to pull together all the disparate submissions into some key call’s to action. 

So, what I thought I would do today is to share four different takeaways that I took from all the great submissions that we received. 

For more information, visit: http://artofprocurement.com/TPRtakeaways

Carlson Rezidor - one of the largest hotel groups in the world with brands such as Radisson and Park Place – embarked on a path to identify, build and deploy a global source to pay platform in mid-2015.

I am joined on the Art of Procurement today by Scott Deibert, the SVP of Procurement, and Bart Baetens, Director of E-Procurement for Carlson Residor.

In today’s show, we chronicle their journey. I ask Scott and Bart to share the key decision points and lessons learned, as the sought to transform their global procurement technology stack. 

Topics that we discussed include:

• Why did Carlson Rezidor decide to pivot from their existing technology stack to a new solution.
• Why did they decide to source an end to end suite rather than a series of point solutions.
• What was their key criteria for selecting the platform that they ultimately chose?
• What were some of their key challenges as they deployed and rolled out the platform?
• What would they do differently?
• What is the once area that they still continue to struggle with.
• How are they planning to continue to leverage procurement tech post roll-out – what is the #1 technology capability that is on the horizon that they want to take advantage of.

If you are interested in the practical side of procurement technology – and the realities of embarking on a S2P transformation, you will not want to miss today’s show!

For more information, visit: http://artofprocurement.com/techtransformation

Today’s episode is the second in a two-part series considering Category Management: what we can do not only to implement Category Management, but also do so in a way that is sustainable over the long term.

The reason why I think this is important is that often I have seen Category Management implemented for the right reasons, but after the initial burst of energy and picking the low hanging fruit, it becomes difficult to keep the momentum going and provide value in other ways.

Today’s guests on the show are Lynn Rideout, Senior Manager of Category Management, and Chris Eyerman, Senior Director of Program Management, both at Denali Sourcing Services.  In part two of this two-part series, we discuss three key imperatives for a Category Manager that are required to become a trusted advisor:

1. Know Your Stakeholders

2. Understand Your Categories

3. Deliver Results 

For more information, visit http://artofprocurement.com/categorymanagement