News you can use: 7/29/2015
- New procurement method may cut education costs
The two popular processes – centralized and decentralized – have both benefits and disadvantages. Centralized operations simplify ordering. One office or official is designated as the person who does all the purchasing. However, this can leave the individual departments without the supplies they need, ChainLink Research claimed. The focus remains on the school as a whole. Decentralized procurement has the opposite effect. The buying power is in the hands of the departments. They have the freedom to purchase what they need. Unfortunately, schools may go over budget with so many people having free reign of the finances.
http://www.strategicsourceror.com/2015/07/new-procurement-method-may-cut.html
- LinkedIn’s making it harder to download your account data
LinkedIn has removed the tool that allowed users to easily export contacts. Now, users who wish to download their first degree connections will need to go through a process that can take up to 72 hours to complete. The change was first spotted by a Twitter user and confirmed by VentureBeat.
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/248790?ctp=BizDev&src=Syndication&msc=Feedly
- Keys to Successful Supplier-Enabled Innovation
One key issue, the report finds, is that there is hardly a widely accepted definition of what Supplier-Enabled Innovation really means. That said, about two-thirds of respondents said that SEI should not be viewed as something special, but rather it should be intertwined with all the other tasks that procurement managers perform as a matter of course. However, an important block instead sees SEI as a “specific program, a set of dedicated workstreams, where the business invests resources, monitors progress, and builds the innovation output into organizational priorities.”
http://www.scdigest.com/ONTARGET/15-07-21-1.PHP?cid=9541&ctype=content
- Why Can’t We All Just Get Along? Because We Shouldn’t.
Stick to the issue and don’t let things get out of hand or go out of bounds. Heated arguments are typical but the way to keep them productive is to coach people to attack the problem, not the person. It’s OK to say, “I think your idea is doomed and here’s why,” but not “I think you’re a clueless idiot.” It should never get personal. Also banish any extraneous topics to the parking lot and keep things moving along.
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/248684?ctp=BizDev&src=Syndication&msc=Feedly
- This Strategy Will Make Negotiations Less Painful
Medvec is a proponent of a negotiation technique called MESOs, orMultiple Equivalent Simultaneous Offers. The idea behind MESOs is to give the other party multiple options to choose from that are equivalent from your standpoint.
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/248572?ctp=BizDev&src=Syndication&msc=Feedly
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News you can use: 7/22/2015
Photo: Nico Time, Flickr
- The End of Buying and Selling
Yet buying and selling became central enterprises of business over the course of the last century. Corporations focused on standardization—the Deming ideal—so needs became predictable enough to compare vendors directly, find the greatest price value through the routinized process of request for proposal (RFP), and thereby provide what everyone needed. Buying became the science of squeezing price, sales the art of justifying price, and both functions grew into large organizations. Business is getting too complex and dynamic for centralized buying and selling machines. What’s more, the strategic sourcing initiatives of the past two decades all but erased margins for high-volume suppliers. When the absolute floor is the baseline, there is no need to sell, per se. There is only a need to serve. In fact, there is a heightened need to serve. The only way to differentiate a company is in helping customers profit through the use of products.
http://www.sdcexec.com/article/12091986/the-end-of-buying-and-selling
- 7 Mentors You Didn’t Even Know You Had
You want to build an awesome business right? Then you need to understand how to create an awesome customer experience. Well, you’re a customer too right? Most of what I’ve learned about customer service has been from being a customer. I look at each person or company I buy from as a mentor because they help me create better experiences for my customers by creating a good or bad buying experience for me.
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/247900?ctp=BizDev&src=Syndication&msc=Feedly
- McDonalds vow to end deforestation in its global supply chain
Applying throughout the entire supply chain, the core principles and practices of McDonald’s commitment on deforestation include: No deforestation of primary forests or areas of high conservation value; No development of high carbon stock forest areas and no development on peatlands regardless of depth, and the utilization of best management practices for existing commodity production on peatlands.
- 83% of supply chain executives report lackluster performance as they struggle to get to grips with effects of globalization
Supply chains are being held back by the effects of globalization, according to a new survey, with 83% of executives from leading enterprises claiming to see only average or poor performance. Over 60% said this is primarily due to the number of partners involved and the risks this creates, which is in turn limiting their flexibility.
- ORACLE CLOSES ITS CLOUD PROCUREMENT GAPS
The two new services include the Order Management Cloud and the Global Order Promising Cloud. Together, they offer order management, visibility and order fulfillment capabilities, the company said. But to go a step further, Oracle’s new services connect businesses’ current sales and order processes in its Configure, Price and Quote Cloud product and their current packing and shipping services in the Inventory Cloud product, all to Oracle’s billing in the Enterprise Resource Planning Cloud.
http://www.pymnts.com/news/b2b-payments/2015/oracle-closes-its-cloud-procurement-gaps/