Art of Procurement

This week's Friday Show is a little different.  A recurring theme in my discussions with procurement thought leaders is the need to expand the value that we bring to being more than cost savings alone.  With that in mind, I started working with Joanna Martinez (former CPO and Founder of Supply Chain Advisors) and Jordan Early (Head of Research at Old Street Labs) on a series of shows dedicated to the concept of value based procurement. Joanna, Jordan and I met earlier this week to start mapping out the series. I loved the points being raised so much that I asked Joanna and Jordan if I could hit the record button.  What follows is a short conversation on what value based procurement is, and why it is so important to our future. For more information, visit http://artofprocurement.com/valueintro  

How organizations use third party procurement services like outsourcing is evolving rapidly.  While only a short time ago, procurement outsourcing was synonymous with job losses, it is now being used as an enabler for growth.  In this episode of the Art of Procurement, Mike Jacobs, Chief Procurement Officer of Staples, explains how Staples uses procurement BPO to enable his internal team to focus on providing value to their stakeholders and elevating the role of procurement. For more information, go to http://artofprocurement.com/mikejacobs  

This week, rather than publish my normal Friday solo show, I am going to share another great interview.  Procurement consulting firm Advanced Purchasing Dynamics (APD) recently surveyed a cross section of President's, CEO's and CFO's across the manufacturing industry to understand how they perceived the role of procurement.  To any procurement professional, regardless of industry, the results were both eye opening and alarming! Today's guest on the show is Jeoff Burris, the Founder of APD. Jeoff shares the key findings from APD's research, and how he believes that procurement leaders and professionals should react to build build stronger relationships and relevancy with the c-suite. For show notes, visit http://artofprocurement.com/ceo  

Today's guest on the Art of Procurement is Tom Derry, CEO is ISM (Institute for Supply Management).  Tom and I sat down at last week's ISM 2016 Conference to discuss his key takeaways from the event, and how ISM is evolving to meet the changing needs of its members. Tom then answered a number of quick fire questions, including a question asking if we are facing a talent deficit in procurement.  Listen in to hear Tom's answer! For show notes, visit http://artofprocurement.com/ism2016

Alan Mulally led arguably the greatest turnaround in corporate history. He saved Ford Motor Company from bankruptcy amid the chaos of the 2008 recession, and architected and led the transformation of Ford's product line, brand reputation and financial performance. I had the opportunity this week to sit in on a keynote with Alan at the ISM2016 conference in Indianapolis.  In today's Friday show, I want to share what Alan described as "all I know".  The 11 steps that he used to drive the transformation.  In my mind, these can be applied successfully to any project, and they are just great pieces of business advice.  I hope you agree! For more, visit: http://artofprocurement.com/ford  

My guest on the Art of Procurement today is John P. (Jack) Miles.  There are few, if any, leaders in the procurement profession with the depth and breadth of experience as Jack.  Jack has enjoyed multiple CPO roles at some of North America's largest companies and has served as Secretary of the Florida Department of Managed Services.  He is currently at advisory board member at Coupa. In today's show, Jack shares seven of the key lessons that he has learned from his career in both the private and public sectors. If you have any interest in growing your procurement career, this episode is a must listen! For more information, visit http://artofprocurement.com/tao

How can we make procurement less boring?  That is the question I recently posed based on the perception that we hear that procurement is a boring profession.  As you can imagine, it led to a lively debate within the procurement profession! In this episode I explore why others may feel that procurement is boring, when practitioners believe it is anything but.  I share three listener voicemails, and give my opinion on the actions and mind shift that we need to take to increase the reputation of the work we do. For more information, visit http://artofprocurement.com/boring

I was fortunate to the be in the audience recently to listen to today’s guest, Dr Robert Handfield, give a talk on the future of procurement analytics, and the impact that access to real-time and predictive analytics will have on the procurement function.  I was delighted when Rob agreed to share his thoughts with me on the Art of Procurement. Rob talks passionately about how procurement is at in inflection point – where our ability to deliver value by using old tools such as leveraging spend is coming to an end.  Rob believes that analytics will be the fuel that propels both the relevancy and maturity of procurement to the next level. For more information, visit: http://artofprocurement.com/predictiveanalytics

Time has flown by - we have now passed a half century of shows!  I have learned a TON from the thought leaders who have graciously shared their time with us to help us all collectively elevate the role of procurement. In today's show, I take a look back at five key themes that I have taken away from the first fifty episodes.  Listen to the show and you will also hear how to get my 20 page report where I share a key lesson that I learned from each episode! For more, go to http://artofprocurement.com/5from50

The legal category of spend is often the final frontier in terms of procurement engagement.  It is too complex, too nuanced and isn’t understood by anyone from outside the legal space.  When we do get involved, it is often to help manage low value and commoditized services. So how do we crack the code and become a trusted partner to the legal team.  There is arguably no-one in the world more qualified to answer that question than today’s guest, Silvia Hodges Silverstein.  Silvia is the Executive Director of Buying Legal Services, a Lecturer in Law at Columbia Law School, and is a widely published author, having co-written two case studies on the business of law for Harvard Business Review.  Hear Silvia share the tips and tricks to becoming a trusted partner of the legal team. http://artofprocurement.com/legalservices