Art of Procurement

“If you want to be successful in what you do personally or professionally, you’ve got to manage relationships because the show goes on. You need strong relationships with contractors and suppliers that you know can deliver.” - Matt Mehler, President of PROcurement Solutions Have you ever wondered what it is like to manage procurement for a large, high-profile venue? According to Matt Mehler, former VP of Procurement for Madison Square Garden, it’s exciting, but there’s also a tremendous amount of pressure. Madison Square Garden is a large corporate entity that hosts hundreds of sporting and entertainment events per year, welcoming millions of people to its facilities, which also include entertainment venues off site and even in other cities. In this podcast episode, the opening session of Categorypalooza 2023, Kelly Barner interviews Matt about the complexities and challenges that come along with managing procurement for a large venue with many different types of services. They discuss topics like: How to manage services procurement in a fast-paced, high-pressure environment The pivotal role relationships play in large-scale services spend management Managing expectations and measuring success in a complex organization with multiple stakeholders Navigating the nuances of supplier relationship and performance management in an advertiser- or sponsor-supported organization Links: Matt Mehler on LinkedIn Watch on demand: Categorypalooza 2023 Subscribe to This Week in Procurement

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:  The importance of a solid spend baseline for supplier diversity growth How procurement can secure buy-in from decision makers Category-specific strategies for supplier diversity growth  Links: Daniel Dorr on LinkedIn Lois Eichacker on LinkedIn Watch the Replay: Simple Steps for Growing Supplier Diversity Subscribe to This Week in Procurement  

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: Ownership over ‘make v. buy’ decisions related to talent and staffing needs Procurement’s consultative role in the process for establishing service specifications How companies decide which services are strategic - and which are not Links: The 2023 Services Procurement Survey  Philip Ideson on LinkedIn Kelly Barner on LinkedIn Subscribe to AOP’s This Week in Procurement  

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:  What makes a category “complex” How procurement can establish their reputation as a true strategic partner beyond tactical execution Ways procurement can deliver maximum value even when the category is unfamiliar  Links: Ben Lambert on LinkedIn Whitepaper: Unlocking Procurement’s Opportunity in Complex Spend Categories  

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: The impact this category of spend has on a company’s ability to operate, and the contributions it can make to procurement’s value proposition How to optimize spending decisions at the intersection of multiple options and talent fulfillment models The importance of gathering market intelligence and benchmarking data, making the most of quantitative and qualitative supporting facts to bolster the business case Links: Brian Salkowski on LinkedIn Marie France on LinkedIn Watch Again: A Deliberate Path to Success through Comprehensive Talent Procurement

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.