Art of Procurement

Procurement plays a pivotal role in the delivery and execution of the Olympic Games.  However, it was not always like that.  The organizing committee of the 2012 London Olympic games took the decision to invest in strategic procurement like never before.  The result: the success of team created a legacy whereby the IOC has recognized that procurement must play a pivotal role in the delivery of all subsequent Games. I am joined today by Gerry Walsh, the CPO of the London 2012 games.  We discuss his and his team's Olympic journey, including the key challenges his team faced, how they overcame them, and the extraordinary lengths that they went to, to ensure that the Organizing Committee fulfilled their CSR commitments. For more information, visit http://artofprocurement.com/olympics 

As procurement professionals, we often see our peers across the negotiating table as adversaries. However, there is a lot that we can learn and apply from the art of Sales, particularly when it comes to influencing others. This week’s guest on the Art of Procurement is Stan Garber, President of Scout RFP. Stan is a proven sales and business development leader, and I wanted to tap into that experience to focus on two specific use cases where procurement can lever Sales techniques to increase their sphere of influence.  First, we explore ways of selling the procurement value proposition internally, and then shift focus and consider how you can convince larger suppliers to provide “customer-of-choice” status when your level of spend alone may not merit such treatment. For more information, visit: http://artofprocurement.com/scout 

In my experience, there are few stakeholder relationships that are as important, or as fractious, as those between procurement and IT - particularly when it comes to supporting strategic purchases.  How can we turn this relationship on its head, and become friends and not foes? This was the topic of today's conversation with Kendra Von Esh, ex-CIO of Veolia and current Executive Strategic Advisor for Coupa.  Kendra and I explore how the CIO is measured, why a CIO may bypass procurement, and what we can do about it. For more information, visit: http://artofprocurement.com/cio

As the skill sets that CPO’s require from their procurement professionals continues to evolve, the market for the most qualified talent is becoming more competitive than ever. Previously, the lure of a brand, or a small step up in responsibilities and salary was enough to attract the best and brightest.  As a candidate, you were told to be happy that someone – anyone – was willing to give you a pay check. How things change.  In today’s show, Andrew Daley, co-founder of procurement recruitment firm Edbury Daley provides his insight on what the most effective firms are doing to attract the best procurement talent in the market. For more information, visit: http://artofprocurement.com/rulesofattraction 

Kelly Barner and I feel strongly that we have a lot of opportunity in front of us as a procurement function, but we need to challenge the status quo.  By focusing on the same things that we have always done is more likely to lead to us becoming irrelevant than a strategic business partner. Enter, The Procurement Revolution. Kelly and I have started to finalize the themes within the Procurement Revolution, and there is one that we wanted to enlist your help with today.  Listen in to today's Art of Procurement show to find out how you can help shape the Revolution! http://artofprocurement.com/75  

Think of the handful of supplier agreements that you have that are fundamental to your business operations and strategy.  How many of your most material supplier relationships are based on leverage, power dynamics and a zero sum game? Today's guest is Kate Vitasek, Founder of the Vested business methodology. Kate provides real world examples as I ask how we, as procurement professionals, can put these rules in to practice and create relationships based on the notion of shared value.  The result: a supply based that enables our stakeholders to “win” at what it is that they do to contribute to the competitive advantage of our organizations. For more information, visit: http://artofprocurement.com/vested

At some point in time, we all come to a crossroads. A decision has to be made between two paths that has long term implications on the direction of our careers. I have encountered a number of these crossroads throughout my career to date.  In today's show, I share three such examples, the decisions I took (and why), and then I reflect on the lessons that I learned so that you don't have to make the same mistakes as I did! For more information, go to http://artofprocurement.com/careercrossroads  

With procurement talent at a premium, and the skills required to be successful rapidly evolving, professional development has arguably never been so important within our field.  But, are old world methods of learning such as classroom training dead?  Mark Pollack, Vice President of SIG University is an expert in adult education. In today's episode, Mark shares why ongoing development is so important, along with the keys to delivering training programs that inspire and motivate professionals to engage in the developmental opportunities provided to them.  For more information, visit http://artofprocurement.com/education   

In today’s Art of Procurement, I share how the concept of demand management came to the front of my mind while out shopping for birthday presents for my son last weekend. I then discuss five different ways in which procurement can help our organizations reduce their overall expenditure by managing demand rather than reducing supplier profit margins. For more information, visit http://artofprocurement.com/demandmanagement 

Where do you go for supplier information if you are asked to lead a sourcing project for a product or service you are unfamiliar with? Stephany Lapierre, my guest on today’s Art of Procurement show, is the expert in Supplier Discovery. First Stephany founded Matchbook, a consulting firm helping biotech firms identify and source hard to find suppliers to meet very specific needs. Following customer demand, she then built and launched tealbook, an online supplier knowledge management platform. In today's show, Stephany shares the 10 most effective ways in which to identify qualified suppliers for your next sourcing event or category strategy. For more information, go to: http://artofprocurement.com/supplierdiscovery