Art of Procurement

Digital procurement is no longer a ‘next level’ approach to spend and supplier management. Digitized procurement processes have fast become the table stakes for any procurement team that hopes to become a true business partner.  And yet, procurement often still struggles to ‘connect the dots’ between multiple strategic and technical considerations - a business-wide effort. In a recent LinkedIn Snap Poll, Art of Procurement community members told us that alignment with the business is the most important input to digital transformation. That in and of itself is an important indication of procurement maturity. This episode features a recent AOP Live session where Philip Ideson was joined by Alpar Kamber, Julie Brignac, and Chris Eyerman from WNS Denali. They took the opportunity to dig deeper into the connection between alignment with the business and procurement’s digital transformation goals. They discussed: What the concept of a digital ecosystem really means - to procurement and to the rest of the company How procurement should perceive the connections between digital transformation and their own maturity journey The important role that experienced and objective third parties can play in accelerating both transformation and maturation

Procurement 6 is a new short podcast from Art of Procurement that will be published 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 will have 6 short segments that summarize this week in procurement.   Segments will range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that have captured our attention this week.

In challenging economic times, each company has to eke the most value out of every contract. But are there limitations to that? A recent article from CIPS’ Supply Management Magazine, How the Actions of Procurement Teams Are Contributing to Insolvencies, brought this question to the forefront. In a LinkedIn Pulse Poll, Philip Ideson asked, should procurement be responsible for what they ask for in situations where they hold a high amount of leverage or is it up to the supplier not to offer what they cannot afford? In this episode of the podcast, Philip is joined by Kelly Barner to discuss the results of the poll as well as some related ‘ethical’ questions that procurement teams may be facing today: How can procurement ‘protect’ suppliers from bankruptcy if those suppliers are not fully transparent about their cost model? Who should decide what it means to make a ‘fair profit?’ Could holding a supplier’s feet to the fire lead to brand damage for the buying company?

Procurement 6 is a new short podcast from Art of Procurement that will be published 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 will have 6 short segments that summarize this week in procurement.   Segments will range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that have captured our attention this week.

It is not easy to strike a balance between the need for speed, control, and compliance.  Get it right and you’ve unlocked the X factor. Get it wrong and the customer experience will suffer. The business wants more convenience but procurement is wired to ensure control. Can procurement satisfy both at the same time? In this session from Mastermind LIVE 2022, Radhika Samant, VP of Finance and Head of Global Procurement at Optimizely, and Lalitha Rajagopalan, Co-founder and Head of Strategy & Marketing at ORO Labs, share their thoughts on the procurement X factor and why it is so critical to transformation. They shared their perspectives about: How procurement can be a revenue driver as well as a cost manager What is driving the shift towards decentralized procurement activity and ownership Ways that new digital capabilities are allowing greater freedom spending without sacrificing oversight

Procurement 6 is a new short podcast from Art of Procurement that will be published 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 will have 6 short segments that summarize this week in procurement.   Segments will range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that have captured our attention this week.

The procurement talent landscape has always been complex, and the last few years have accelerated the rate of change and amplified the impact on companies of all sizes. First there was the pandemic, and the transition to working from home. This gave way to the Great Resignation, which saw people leaving their jobs in droves. Some exited the workforce altogether, others switched jobs or industries, and many decided to take the opportunity to dabble in entrepreneurship.  Now, with trouble looming on the economic horizon, the pendulum is starting to swing back in the other direction, and news of large scale layoffs is making people think twice about leaving a secure position. In this episode, based on an AOP Live session, Joe Payne, SVP of Source-to-Pay, and Jennifer Ulrich, VP of Advisory, from Corcentric answered a range of questions about these employment trends and how they are impacting procurement talent: The challenges created by the 59% of procurement professionals who told us that when faced with talent shortages they just “work harder” The opportunity that exists to leverage hybrid insource/outsource procurement delivery models - particularly at the strategic end of the hiring market How the combination of so much disruption in the overall employment market is expected to affect hiring managers and procurement organizations into next year

Procurement 6 is a new short podcast from Art of Procurement that will be published 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 will have 6 short segments that summarize this week in procurement.   Segments will range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that have captured our attention this week.

What does it take to formulate an ambitious vision and then go hands-on to bring it to fruition? Tony Uphoff is a growth advisor, tech mentor, and turn around expert. He was the President and CEO at Thomas (formerly ThomasNet), and personally drove the effort to transform the 100 year old business into a modern media enterprise, what he calls a “125 year old startup.” This week’s episode is from the first session of Mastermind LIVE 2022. Tony joined Kelly Barner to kick off the two day event by sharing his experiences with driving organizations towards a big goal or vision - despite enterprise inertia in a challenging market. Listen to hear Tony share his point of view on: How to drive significant change quickly without jeopardizing the future success of the company One of the most common mistakes turnaround leaders make when they are approaching a new project Strategies procurement can use to liberate themselves from traditional roles, perspectives, and results

Procurement 6 is a new short podcast from Art of Procurement that will be published 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 will have 6 short segments that summarize this week in procurement.   Segments will range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that have captured our attention this week.