Category: Industry News

Posted on

News You Can Use: 4/20/2016

sn_stars_Rodion Kutsaev

  • Survey: Health care industry most targeted by cyberattackers

    One promising sign is that 46 percent of health care organizations did plan to increase spending on data-at-rest defenses such as disk encryption, file encryption, data access controls, application encryption and tokenization, the highest ranking of any vertical. In particular, 46 percent say they will implement data security to follow industry best practices, 39 percent plan to implement cloud security gateways, 35 percent plan to implement tokenization, and 29 percent plan to implement application encryption.

    http://www.csoonline.com/article/3055406/data-breach/survey-health-care-industry-most-targeted-by-cyberattackers.html

  • Why Mining All That Data Will Keep Supply Chains Running Smoothly

    “To meet these ever-growing expectations, supply chains are integrating digital processes that extend enterprise-wide to help manage the complexities of omnichannel demand and fulfillment,” Schneider says. “For example, Brooks Brothers integrated a new customer relationship management (CRM) system to access a 360-degree view of its customers across 600 stores. This universal customer database was designed to help the company gain a personalized view of customer preferences and purchase history regardless of country or location. Many retailers are now taking advantage of big data to gain insight and visibility into consumers’ shopping behaviors, allowing them to align business models and supply chains to meet demand.”

    https://sourcingjournalonline.com/mining-all-that-data-keeps-supply-chains-running-smoothly-salfino/

  • How Politically Correct Should the Workplace Be?
    The post uses a specific example and a fictional dialog between the CEO and the HR rep. The offending act involves a picture of Hitler…
    http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/04/how-politically-correct-should-the-workplace-be/477636/
  • Please do not leave a message

    http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2014/10/23/358301467/please-do-not-leave-a-message-why-millennials-hate-voice-mail
  • 3 Skills Supply Chain Managers Need Today

    Market intelligence doesn’t just come from networking, though. A huge amount of insight comes from data analysis, too. The challenge is understanding how to actually analyze data and apply the analysis to supply chain strategy to drive positive results. People in supply chain management and procurement careers must have knowledge on data and data analytics, Handfield said. They need to understand what data is available to them, and how to apply the data and analytics to solve a supply chain problem.

    https://spendmatters.com/2016/04/12/3-skills-supply-chain-managers-need-today/

  • Immortality: When We Digitally Copy Our Minds, What Happens to Humanity?

Photo: Rodion Kutsaev

Posted on

News You Can Use: 4/13/2016

sn_merica_CalibFrith

  • Who’s the Boss of Workplace Culture?

    When asked what they do to preserve and strengthen workplace culture, HR professionals and managers were on the same page, listing “training and development” (72 percent and 61 percent, respectively) and “getting feedback from employees and acting on it” (45 percent and 46 percent) as the two top strategies.

    http://www.kronos.com/pr/who-is-the-boss-of-workplace-culture-hr-managers-and-employees-disagree-says-new-workforce-institute-study.aspx

  • Why Create RFP Hell?

    This is not a good thing to do. A company with a reputation for putting its potential suppliers though RFP hell is not one that many suppliers will want to deal with. The more a supplier’s peers complain about RFP hell with Company X, the fewer are the suppliers who will even acknowledge the existence of an RFP from Company X. As the word of RFP Hell from Company X spreads, the only suppliers that will respond to an RFP from Company X are those that are desperate. Those in bad financial shape, those without a stable customer base, and those with a bad reputation. These are not suppliers you want to deal with.

    http://sourcinginnovation.com/wordpress/2016/04/03/why-create-rfp-hell/

  • How to build cybersecurity into outsourcing contracts

    Customers must perform a gap analysis between the vendor’s offering and the customer’s requirements to identify gaps and determine whether they can be covered by either party. In addition, narrow limitations of liability—frequent in cloud contracts—can warp the incentives for protection against cyber risk. While there has been a significant growth among sophisticated cloud vendors who are able to address their customers’ data protection and compliance requirements, there is still substantial variation among cloud vendors’ ability to adequately address such requirements.

    Also:

    The key contractual provisions to mitigate cyber risk are: (1) the security standards required of the vendor; (2) restrictions on subcontracting; (3) employee related protections, such as background checks and training; (4) security testing; (5) security audits; (6) security incident reporting and investigation; (7) data retention and use restrictions; (8) customer data access rights; and (9) vendor liability for cyber incidents.

    http://www.cio.com/article/3052269/cyber-attacks-espionage/how-to-build-cybersecurity-into-outsourcing-contracts.html#tk.rss_all

  • Failure to Monitor a Supply Chain for Risk Can Tarnish Your Brand

    A recent study by CIRANO found that while there is an 80% chance of a company losing at least 20% of its value at least once during a five year period as a result of a negative, but well publicized, incident, a major incident that negatively impacts the brand in a significant way can be much worse. Just ask Airbus that had its stock plummet by over 26% in a single day, equivalent to a market capitalization loss of approximately €5.4 Billion, after it announced on the close of trading on June 13, 2006 that issues with the supply and installation of electrical harnesses would lead to a further six-month delay in the delivery of the A380 (and that the impact of the disruption on earnings before interest and tax would be €500M per year for four years).

    http://sourcinginnovation.com/wordpress/2016/04/06/failure-to-monitor-a-supply-chain-for-risk-can-tarnish-your-brand/

  • SAP Ariba bids to transform financial supply chain in partnership with Prime Revenue

    “To compete and win in today’s global economy requires digital supply chains that are connected, agile and intelligent,” said Alex Atzberger, President, SAP Ariba. “In joining forces, SAP Ariba and PrimeRevenue can create a closed-loop system that links all of the data companies need to manage transactions and supply chain financing events with greater insight, speed and simplicity than ever.”

    https://www.finextra.com/pressarticle/63865/sap-ariba-bids-to-transform-financial-supply-chain-in-partnership-with-prime-revenue

Photo: Calib Frith

Posted on

News You Can Use: 4/6/2016

sn_GirlStairway_Tom Sodoge

  • What to Do When Good Talent Has Suspicious Social Media

    Know where your company stands on disqualification standards and how to identify whether or not a resume is accurate. In an October 2015 study from Adecco, 54 percent of the more than 4,168 recruiters surveyed said they excluded candidates based on online information that contradicted their CVs. Address these contradictions directly in the interview, with specific questions. If the-job seeker provides vague, rambling answers, chances are he or she is lying or trying to avoid the confrontation.

    http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/272441

  • Where (and how) to find top supply SCM talent

    Spend Matters recently revealed that one way to bridge this gap is, instead of focusing on hiring workers who are skilled in a specific category, restructuring roles to attract talented leaders who can exercise a dynamic range of capabilities, such as “increased business and leadership skills, technological prowess, knowledge of foreign policy and regulations and the ability to handle cross-functional complexity.”

    http://www.strategicsourceror.com/2016/03/where-and-how-to-find-top-supply-scm.html
    Additionally:
    Solutions to Bridging the Supply-Chain Talent Gap

    Those with awareness of the profession might be turned off by pay disparities. Women tend to start out with compensation that’s equivalent to, if not higher than, that of men. But after 10 years in the workforce, the pay gap widens by around 34 percent, Eshkenazi said. What’s more, employers are paying insufficient attention to the work-life balance that’s required by many young employees, both male and female, today.

    http://www.supplychainbrain.com/content/blogs/think-tank/blog/article/solutions-to-bridging-the-supply-chain-talent-gap/

  • Economic Sustentation 06: Preparing for the Corporate Takeover

    3. Become a customer of choice.
    Supplier sales teams fight for their customers of choice. When push comes to shove and there is not enough supply to go around, you will get it. When the parent company wants to push prices up to cover the costs of the acquisition, the sales team will look elsewhere. When you need access to innovation, they will fight to give it. But, despite many contractual claims to the contrary, very few clients are actually customers of choice.

    http://sourcinginnovation.com/wordpress/2016/03/24/economic-sustentation-06-preparing-for-the-corporate-takeover/

  • New report calls for Nestle to take lead on cleaning up Thai supply chain

    “These findings of severe labor and human rights abuses present an urgent challenge to any company sourcing seafood,” said Verite. “[We] recognize the complex and entrenched nature of these issues, the challenges of finding leverage points to effect change, and the practical difficulty of cascading accountability into a non-vertical supply chain with limited visibility.”

    https://www.undercurrentnews.com/2016/03/24/new-report-calls-for-nestle-to-take-lead-on-cleaning-up-thai-supply-chain/

  • How creative thinkers can thrive in a regulated industry

    At the end, we circle back to the beginning. To build a great company, you need great people. But there are many different kinds of great people out there, and, as a healthcare company, no matter how ground-breaking and innovative, you need to make sure you’re hiring the right kind of great people. The ones who are in it for the long term, who have the patience and maturity to understand that despite the technological edge they live on, they operate in an industry with different rules.

    http://techcrunch.com/2016/03/31/how-creative-thinkers-can-thrive-in-a-regulated-industry/

Posted on

News You Can Use: 3/30/2016

sn_leaves_Scott Webb

  • Design for the Supply Chain Pt 5: Understandable

    I think it’s obvious to all of us that supply chains are continuing to become more and more complex. This is due in part to the ever changing number of nodes/links in the supply chain as companies become more global. That in turn impacts processes (internal and external), interactions with suppliers and customers, focus on metrics and risk analysis, etc. The volume of data necessary to manage these interactions from end-to-end is staggering. We generally create all kinds of reports and applications to sit on top of databases, ERP systems, and spreadsheets to capture the data. The challenge though is not so much how to capture the data but how to get our arms around it in a meaningful way. The goal is to help the supply chain professional understand the situation quicker so they can make better decisions.

    http://blog.kinaxis.com/2016/03/design-for-the-supply-chain-pt-5-understandable/

  • Is It Okay to Cry at Work?

    Personal opinion: Nope nope nope
    http://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/474195/is-it-okay-to-cry-at-work/
  • Rewiring the Supply Chain to Improve Results

    Alignment plagues the functional organization with large gaps between operations and commercial teams. Closing this gap is paramount to start the journey for supply chain excellence. As long as we hire consultants that advocate harvesting the “low-hanging fruit” in operations and driving growth in commercial teams, we perpetuate the gap. Instead, we must build operational competency cross-functionally with a focus on market sensing, shaping and customer satisfaction. The supply chain needs to be redefined outside-in with a focus on the customer. Pitting operations and commercial teams against each other is detrimental to driving business results.

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/loracecere/2016/03/18/rewiring-the-supply-chain-to-improve-results/#42498dc1c568

  • Four Things To Do When Your Team Is Smarter Than You
    I would think any manager would WANT this…

    PRESENT OBJECTIVES, NOT STRATEGIES
    Throughout his 21-year career, Siegel has managed teams that were filled with smart people. Recently, he managed a computer engineering team from Israel who were working to complete high-level systems architecture programming for ZipRecruiter. “Many had come out of the Israeli military and were beyond elite,” he says. “They had been writing code to save lives. They were the best of the best—off-the-charts smart.”

    Instead of being intimidated, Siegel tapped into their motivation and changed the way he delivered his tasks. “I would start each project with the mission,” he says. “I would say, ‘This is the goal. This is the strategy. This is what success looks like.’”

    http://www.fastcompany.com/3058080/lessons-learned/four-things-to-do-when-your-teams-smarter-than-you

  • Why Dropbox dropped Amazon’s cloud

    Not every company has the scale Dropbox operates at. And most companies would not see a huge benefit from customizing infrastructure to tailor it to their specific needs, Gupta says. Dropbox’s journey took two and a half years and required investments in personnel to figure out how infrastructure should be customized and other workers to manage their data centers.

    http://www.cio.com/article/3045641/cloud-computing/why-dropbox-dropped-amazons-cloud.html#tk.rss_all

  • People Want Power Because They Want Autonomy

    That people would value autonomy over influence jives with self-determination theory, a psychological theory that suggests autonomy is one of humans’ basic psychological needs, along with relatedness and competence. Influence is not aneed under this theory. Another study suggests that while striving for power lowers people’s well-being, once they have power, they really are happier, because they feel more authentic—the power makes them feel like the circumstances of their lives are more in line with who they feel they are inside. That may be because the power gives them the freedom to make their own decisions, and their sense of well-being grows when they do what they want.

    http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/03/people-want-power-because-they-want-autonomy/474669/

  • Why Your Next Procurement Vehicle Should Be a Bus

    In San Francisco, under our Startup In Residence program, we’re experimenting with how to remove the friction associated with RFPs for both government staff and startups. For government staff, that means publishing an RFP in days, not months. For startups, it means responding to an RFP in hours not weeks.

    So what did we learn from our experience with the airport? We combined 17 RFPs into one; utilized general “challenge statements” in place of highly detailed project specifications; leveraged modern technology; and created a simple guide to navigating the process.

    http://www.techwire.net/news/why-your-next-procurement-vehicle-should-be-a-bus.html
    Copy of the procurement guide:
    https://startupinresidenceorg.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/stircontractingguideocareviewed1-28-2016-docx.pdf

Photo: Scott Web

Posted on

News You Can Use: 3/23/2016

sn_bridge_Simon Stratford

  • Why 2016 Is The Year Of The Hybrid Job

    The 21st-century workplace demands versatility. Big data, for example, is becoming increasingly important to the success of businesses, and every industry is making considerable investments. “Not surprisingly, occupations pertaining to data analysis are the fastest growing today across multiple industries,” says Brennan. “The ability to compile, analyze, and apply big data to everyday business decisions is driving major change. In the IT space, big data roles have seen a nearly 4,000% jump in demand. But with the availability of data comes the requirement to analyze and visualize data.”

    http://www.fastcompany.com/3057619/the-future-of-work/why-2016-is-the-year-of-the-hybrid-job

  • An interesting post on the history of Amazon Web Services (AWS)

    At the same time, Bezos became enamored with a book called Creation, by Steve Grand, the developer of a 1990s video game called Creatures that allowed players to guide and nurture a seemingly intelligent organism on their computer screens. Grand wrote that his approach to creating intelligent life was to focus on designing simple computational building blocks, called primitives, and then sit back and watch surprising behaviors emerge.

    The book…helped to crystallize the debate over the problems with the company’s own infrastructure. If Amazon wanted to stimulate creativity among its developers, it shouldn’t try to guess what kind of services they might want; such guesses would be based on patterns of the past. Instead, it should be creating primitives — the building blocks of computing — and then getting out of the way. In other words, it needed to break its infrastructure down into the smallest, simplest atomic components and allow developers to freely access them with as much flexibility as possible.

    https://stratechery.com/2016/the-amazon-tax/

  • Rebranding The American Man

    According to research from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, single, unmarried women under 30 are now out-earning single, unmarried men across the country. In New York City, Los Angeles, and San Diego, women make 17%, 12%, and 15% more than their male peers, respectively. A big part of this shift has to do with the fact that women now earn 60% of higher education degrees, so this trend is likely to continue. And women are the primary jobholders in 13 out of the 15 job categories projected to grow in the United States over the next 10 years.

    http://www.fastcompany.com/3057609/rebranding-the-american-man

  • The Air You Breathe at Work May Be Slowing You Down

    The culprit is carbon dioxide, according to a series of studies since 2012. The most recent research, led by Joseph Allen, who teaches at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, analyzed the performance of knowledge workers, including engineers, programmers, creative marketing professionals and managers. For several hours each day, unbeknownst to those employees, the researchers raised and lowered the amount of carbon dioxide in the air, and then tested everyone on nine different kinds of cognitive ability, like responding to a crisis, strategic thinking and applying their knowledge to a practical task.

    The higher the concentration of CO2, the lower the test scores. Even allowing for uncontrolled factors such as diet, previous night sleep quality and mood, employees’ overall sharpness fell by an average of 15 percent when CO2 levels reached “moderate” levels of about 945 parts per million (ppm). In modern office buildings, designed to maximize energy efficiency by letting in as little outside air as possible, CO2 levels around 1,000 ppm are common.

    http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/272519

  • IT workers dispute Disney rehiring claims

    “This is nothing more than corporate speak intended to muddy the waters,” Perrero said. “New more exciting jobs were promised by Disney that acted as a carrot to keep us around just long enough to have us Americans be the trainers and the foreign workers as the trainees.”

    http://www.cio.com/article/3044098/outsourcing/it-workers-dispute-disney-rehiring-claims.html#tk.rss_all

  • John Oliver on Encryption (NSFW language… don’t watch this in the office!)

    Related:
    WhatsApp’s Other Encryption Dilemma

    The messaging app has made clear it hopes to sell businesses on using WhatsApp as a way to communicate with consumers. Tests of WhatsApp business accounts are expected to start by the end of this year, Facebook has said. But WhatsApp has told potential clients that one of its biggest challenges is how to roll out a customer service application for businesses without giving up end-to-end encryption protecting messages on the app, according to a person briefed by WhatsApp.

    https://www.theinformation.com/whatsapps-other-encryption-dilemma

  •  D.C., San Francisco tech leaders aim for ‘future-proof’ procurement

    The idea of future-proofing procurement, Vemulapalli said, is to make it easier for city governments to procure technology from a diverse group of vendors — from massive international companies to local startups in the civic innovation space.

    http://statescoop.com/d-c-san-francisco-tech-leaders-aim-for-future-proof-procurement 

Photo: Simon Stratford