As a concerned taxpayer, DC area resident, and Spend Management professional, it’s difficult for me to not look at the just-passed federal stimulus package (and other programs) first and foremost as the biggest Spend Management challenges in history. Whether or not you agree with the plan, everyone must admit that “managing this spend” will [...]

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Legal services have long been among the so called “sacred cows” of corporate spending. The prevailing wisdom was, it’s better to keep paying whatever it takes for good legal representation than to tempt fate, potential plaintiffs and juries by skimping on legal fees. Those days of unquestioned spending are coming to a close, accelerated by [...]

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Cost savings may be job number one today, but the current economic crisis portends an equally disturbing storm brewing on the horizon: heightened supply risk. Volatile commodity prices, credit shortages, 23consolidation and bankruptcies are combining so that companies - regardless of their size or the industries in which they operate - will face some form [...]

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Last Friday Justin Fogarty and Jim Frankola, former CFO of Ariba, did a good job describing the TARP waiting game most auto suppliers are forced to play right now. This is a new and frustrating position for these companies. The industry was built and still thrives on action and innovation. Cars and trucks today [...]

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Purchasing Magazine’s recent advice that procurement market and sell its usefulness to internal stakeholders got me thinking: what are spend management organizations doing to serve their internal customers? And how are they measuring success?
When I first posed this question to two CPOs a while back, their answer was blunt: “When I talk with my CFO, [...]

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