Supply Excellence

Entries from December 2007

Supply Excellence: Best Contributions of 2007

December 28th, 2007 · No Comments · best practices, costing, sourcing, supply management

Over on SpendMatters, Jason Busch is doing a Casey Kasem-like countdown of his favorite posts of the year. (That is, if Mr. Kasem wrote and recorded his own songs.) The multi-part series is a not so subtle reminder of the great service Jason is doing for the supply management sector.
In the spirit of plagiarism being [...]

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China Makes Good on its Green Promise

December 26th, 2007 · 1 Comment · LCCS and trade, enviro/social sustainability, supply management

Earlier this year, I noted China’s plan to embrace sustainable business practices. A recent Wall Street Journal article shows signs that country leadership is making good on its green promise.
Under new anti-pollution rules, China’s Ministry of Commerce threatened to shut down polluters for a period of one to three years, depending upon the severity of [...]

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Personal Spend Management

December 21st, 2007 · 1 Comment · spend analysis

We’ve all heard stories of procurement managers turning their hard-earned negotiation tactics on the Sears salesman to shave a few bucks off that new stainless fridge or flat panel LCD. But a new Web 2.0 service called Mint aims to bring spend management to the common man. (Hat-tip to Fast Company for turning me onto [...]

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Supplier Diversity: It’s Time to Get Started

December 19th, 2007 · 1 Comment · automotive sector, enviro/social sustainability, supplier management, supply management

For many companies, supplier diversity has been like New Year’s resolutions: we have the best intentions of doing them, but typically fail to as other initiatives get in the way.
Sure certain industries like Aerospace and Defense have been pushing diversity programs for decades, but their initial motivation was largely government mandates. Automakers and retailers initially [...]

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Note to Supply Managers: Turn Volatility in Your Favor

December 18th, 2007 · No Comments · supply management, supply market dynamics

In an interview with European Leaders in Procurement, Richard Nixon of KPMG (no relation to the former U.S. President) states that companies will “increasingly look to procurement to stave off the effects of recent volatility on stock exchanges throughout the world.”
In his ELP interview (registration required), Nixon said companies will adopt a more cautious approach [...]

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