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Outcome-based contracting
I believe one of the key trends this year will be a growing focus on outcome-based contracting. There are already clear signs of this – for example, in the last week there was an article in the Wall...
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In The News
There are always so many interesting items in the news that are relevant to the world of contracts and commercial. I thought for today’s blog I would share just three that I spotted this morning....
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Contract Management and Emerging Markets
Personally, I have always been fascinated by international trade. it has so many more nuances than domestic relationships, especially when it comes to the commercial and contractual implications. Some...
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Will Dreamliner kill outsourcing?
I am sure the analysis into Boeing’s problems with the Dreamliner will continue for some time. At present, there seems to be a growing consensus that ‘outsourcing’ was to blame. My understanding is...
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Review & Approval: It gets no easier
With all the focus these days on compliance, it is probably no great surprise that there is growing interest in review and approval processes. Certainly it is a topic about which an increasing number...
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Horsemeat and procurement principles
Will the European horsemeat scandal at last lead to a rebalance in procurement measurements? Yesterday the debate turned to whether the food chain is being threatened by a focus on price. According to...
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Compliance – with what?
Last week I was asked to present on the topic of ‘Contract compliance as a core competence’. Compliance is not a new issue. It lies at the heart of all successful business because it relates to meeting...
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Trust and trade
Trust is certainly an influential factor in the world of trade, especially on the nature of associated terms. But of course it is not essential that the trading parties have trust in each other. Their...
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Measuring Satisfaction
Measurements of customer satisfaction have been around for some time now. Those for supplier satisfaction are rather more recent. But in both cases, I am surprised at how little they are used to gain...
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Adversarial negotiation
It can be difficult to persuade an organization to give up on its traditional approach to negotiation. I am quite often asked to suggest how to transform adversarial attitudes towards suppliers....
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Delivering Value To The Business
It is a challenge for many groups or individuals within business to describe the precise value they bring. For some – like Procurement – it is a claim of savings relative to a price that they might...
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Is Purchasing ‘the glue’?
Anne Kohler wrote an interesting article on The MPower Group News. In it, she suggests that Purchasing does not gain the acknowledgement it deserves. Anne makes the following comment: “In a nutshell,...
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To be included, you must be a team player
I spend some of my time supporting a variety of MBA and executive education programs at international business schools. This support includes discussion and mentoring of project teams. Recently, I...
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Supplier Management, Sourcing, Procurement …. which matters most?
It has been interesting to observe the steady proliferation of functional names and job roles within the overall area of purchasing. Does this reflect a growth of value and an expansion of role within...
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Do relationships matter?
With so much written about relationship management, you might think there is little more to say or discuss. Yet the body of underlying research is relatively sparse – and that is why I support some of...
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Start With The End In Mind
Yesterday I met with Mike Vernon, a partner in Consulting People. We were discussing approaches to risk identification and management. Both of us have observed growing complexity in commercial...
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Whose job is it to understand the market?
In the past, it was assumed that the Marketing department was responsible for gathering market requirements, which they would then pass to product or service development for inclusion in ‘go-to-market’...
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Social Networking & Contracts
Today I turn once again to Logistics Viewpoints as the inspiration for my comments. Adrian Gonzalez has been exploring the impact of social networking on the management of supply chains. In summary, he...
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Public Sector Contracting Under The Spotlight – But Offers Lessons For All
Today, the UK Government issued a report by the Public Administration Select Committee on Government Procurement. It highlights weaknesses in commercial understanding and contract capabilities, in...
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Should Procurement Exist?
Guy Strafford has written an excellent article in the Proxima newsletter, asking whether the name ‘Procurement’ is toxic. As Guy acknowledges, he is by no means the first to raise this question and...
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