Category: Industry News

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News You Can Use: 8/26/2015

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  • The hazards of go-to people

    For the staffers who are not the go-to people, things often don’t work out too well either. They can end up in a self-reinforcing cycle of unhappiness and poor performance. When they realize that they are not one of the go-to people they might miss out on the opportunities to work on exciting or important things, since they are not considered dedicated and capable.

    http://www.cio.com/article/2973120/leadership-management/the-hazards-of-go-to-people.html#tk.rss_all

  • Target’s Big Issue: Modernizing Its Supply Chain

    From September, Mulligan will be overseeing a reorganization of Target’s supply chain system. CEO Cornell described the present system as “an incredibly complex supply chain, built to serve an outdated linear model in which product flows from vendors through distribution centers to stores.” Now what is needed is a new structure that goods can flow in multiple directions as orders are made, including orders from customers for store pick-up or home delivery. The outmoded way is costing Target money and time, neither cheap commodities.

    http://seekingalpha.com/article/3458396-targets-big-issue-modernizing-its-supply-chain

  • Amazon sounds like a hellish place to work (the complete saga):

    Oh, and if you have any shred of a personal life or bodily ailment, Amazon is probably not the best place to work. The Times notes several disturbing cases wherein employees have been criticized for scaling back their hours to take care of sick and dying family members or small children. A woman who had thyroid cancer was given a low performance rating after she returned, while another woman suffering from breast cancer was put on a “performance improvement plan” because her personal “difficulties” had interfered with fulfilling her work goals.

    http://gizmodo.com/working-for-amazon-sounds-utterly-soul-crushing-1724325816
    To add more (from the NYT):

    Amazon employees are held accountable for a staggering array of metrics, a process that unfolds in what can be anxiety-provoking sessions called business reviews, held weekly or monthly among various teams. A day or two before the meetings, employees receive printouts, sometimes up to 50 or 60 pages long, several workers said. At the reviews, employees are cold-called and pop-quizzed on any one of those thousands of numbers.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/technology/inside-amazon-wrestling-big-ideas-in-a-bruising-workplace.html?smid=tw-share&_r=1

    And now, the NYT backs off (seriously?)

    In addition, the evidence against Amazon, while powerful, is largely anecdotal, not data-driven. And anecdotes can be used and interpreted in any number of ways. A reader, Len Edgerly of Cambridge, Mass., wrote to object to parts of the article, particularly a story from Mr. Bezos’ childhood in which he tries to make his grandmother quit smoking by blurting out precisely how many years of her life she had already lost, causing her to burst into tears.

    http://publiceditor.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/08/18/was-portrayal-of-amazons-brutal-workplace-on-target/

  • Monitor Financial Distress in Your Supply Chain

    Manufacturers should prioritize, understand, and address troubled supplier situations with advance awareness. That’s why companies should continually analyze their contracts to maximize leverage, and understand available legal options. To alleviate the pressures of financial distress, manufacturers should exercise common law and statutory remedies in order to purposefully tweak standard terms and conditions of new contracts (or negotiate changes to existing contracts). The terms of these contracts significantly impact the manufacturer’s ability to re-source production to a healthier supplier, recover tooling, and utilize certain remedies.

    http://www.natlawreview.com/article/monitor-financial-distress-your-supply-chain

  • The 4 Levels of Organizational Alignment

    No matter how SMART goals are, they’re irrelevant if they aren’t actively communicated. This is a top-down process, meaning employers need to play an active role in communicating the company vision. Whether it’s through company-wide newsletters or calendars, weekly meetings or goal-management software, keep employees up to date on progress toward goals.

    http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/249312

  • 8 Team-Building Mistakes Richard Branson Would Never Make

    During an Entrepreneur blog post, Branson said, “You need to give your people the freedom to get creative, to come up with their own ideas and run with them. If someone comes to you with an idea for a business, why not ask that person to launch a startup? Over the years some of our employees’ ideas have resulted in our setting up businesses. This has helped us to enter new markets and, more often than not, succeed. Your company should act as a springboard for ambitious employees, not a set of shackles.”

    http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/249616

Posted on

News You Can Use: 8/19/2015

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  • Defusing The Internet Of Things Time Bomb

    Perhaps the most concerning issue is the ticking time bomb of sustainability, or ensuring IoT devices remain secure long-term, throughout their entire life cycle. New paradigms are present here — who would have previously considered software upgrades for garage door openers or washing machines that might impact security or privacy?

    http://techcrunch.com/2015/08/10/defusing-the-internet-of-things-time-bomb/?ncid=rss

  • Three Ways Procurement Can Gain Millennial Appeal

    Millennials make data-based decisions every day, whether it’s using Yelp reviews to pick a restaurant or Mint to balance their personal finances. Luckily for procurement departments, Millennials expect to bring the same data-driven decision-making processes and skills into the workplace. Regretfully, though, few organizations have the right tools in place that make this a possibility. Many procurement departments still rely on siloed solutions, giving employees limited access to company data and making it nearly impossible to make accurate, data-based decisions. Without having a fully integrated solution in place that collects, stores and analyzes data from across the organization, employees aren’t able to make more informed, strategic decisions—another millennial repellent.

    http://www.sdcexec.com/article/12101749/three-ways-procurement-can-gain-millennial-appeal

  • 5 takeaways for companies overseeing interns

    At many workplaces, your manager is your mentor. And, sometimes your manager is open, communicative, and engaged. However, on those rare occasions an intern ends up with a manager like Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada (someone who ends conversations with the neck-tingling “That’s all”), it’s nice to have options.

    https://opensource.com/business/15/8/five-internship-lessons-for-managers

  • Apple’s diversity numbers
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    http://www.fastcompany.com/3049862/fast-feed/apple-finally-releases-diversity-numbers-shows-incremental-improvement
  • How to Retain Millennial Employees Through Workplace Equity

    According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median tenure of workers ages 25 to 34 is only three years. The cost of this turnover averages between $15,000-$25,000 per employee. Do the math.

    http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/249548

  • Three signs you are better off abandoning your idea

    Unfortunately, you may not be the first and only person to come up with your particular idea. The last thing any entrepreneur wants to hear from an investor is that their groundbreaking work is an “uncommonly popular idea” but it happens. When it does, differentiate yourself in a crowded marketplace or accept failure and use it as an opportunity to regroup and pivot to a better idea.

    http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/249468

Photo: Genta Mochizawa, Unsplash

Posted on

News You Can Use: 8/12/2015

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  • FDA tells hospitals to ditch IV pumps that can be hacked remotely
    This is the world of the “Internet of Things” (IoT)

    The Food and Drug Administration “strongly encourages” hospitals to stop using Hospira’s Symbiq Infusion System, because it’s vulnerable to cyberattacks that would allow a third party to remotely control dosages delivered via the computerized pumps. Unauthorized users are able to access the Symbiq system through connected hospital networks, according to the FDA and the Department of Homeland Security’s Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team. ICS-CERT reported the vulnerability on July 21st and the FDA released its own safety alert on Friday, July 31st.

    http://www.engadget.com/2015/07/31/fda-security-warning-hackers

  • Formality The Key To Supplier-Enabled Innovation

    So, in my mind, two things must happen for CPOs to begin their journey into SEI. First, they must convince themselves of the scale of the opportunity that exists. And, second, they must convince the rest of the senior team the same. It sounds simple, but a formal programme can only be put in place with the backing of key stakeholders, a significant financial investment and patience. Get it right, however, and the returns will be career defining.

    http://www.procurementleaders.com/blog/my-blog–david-rae/formality-the-key-to-supplier-enabled-innovation-555593

  • 7 Habits to Work Proactively, Not Reactively
    (Hmmm… who am I sending this message out to *cough**spoons*cough*)


    Try not to overthink. Just DO.
    If you over-think, a 5-minute email could take 30. A few additional Powerpoint slides could take half a day. We tend to overthink when we feel insecure. So shift into a vibe that allows your inherent awesome instinct and abundant intelligence to do its natural work and just get it done. As the saying goes, “Done is better than perfect.”

    http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/248866?ctp=BizDev&src=Syndication&msc=Feedly

  • The Unlikely Source of Your Next Big Breakthrough

    Get to know your own backyard. We all have an extensive network of supply-chain support — from our Internet providers to our credit cards, banks, and other financial-service systems to the couriers who send and deliver our packages. Most of us have only a cursory understanding of what these people can actually do for us. We may know the main benefits of these programs, but we remain in the dark when it comes to knowing how they can enhance our innovations. Build relationships with your support teams. Make calls and sight visits to these places. Educate yourself about the capabilities of your supply chain. What you learn will likely surprise you.

    Go to show-and-tell events. There are tons of innovation sources in supply-chain sectors of all kinds, but you won’t know about them if you’re not exposed to them. Attend information fairs and showcases hosted by universities, governmental organizations, and trade associations. Meet new people, ask tons of questions that speak to your particular needs. Talk to the people you travel with and listen to the solutions they’ve conjured up for their situations. You may be able to reapply them to your organization. Remember that these forms of communication are not limited to your competitors or the individuals in your industry but open to people in all areas closely and remotely related to your own.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-degraff/the-unlikely-source-of-yo_b_7880176.html

  • Google will now tell you when a restaurant is too busy
    This is amazing 

    A new feature in Google will show users when local restaurants are booked up and stores have the most foot traffic. The Google Search tweak is rolling out today on mobile for some users, and shows graphs—presumably based on geolocation from smartphones—indicating when a given venue is busiest during the day.

    http://www.fastcompany.com/3049165/fast-feed/google-will-now-tell-you-when-a-restaurant-is-too-busy

  • Three things that make CEOs stupid

    Power, of course, is the first problem. When things are going fairly well, the CEO has a ton of power, and often, that power makes things appear to work, even when they’re not the right thing to do for the long-term. As a result, there’s no market that is correcting the bad decisions, at least not right now.

    http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2015/07/three-things-that-make-ceos-stupid.html

  • The Walking Dead’s Robert Kirkman on career pivoting…
    http://www.fastcocreate.com/3049162/creation-stories/robert-kirkman-creation-stories?partner=rss&utm_source=feedly&utm_medium=webfeeds
Posted on

News you can use: 7/29/2015

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  • 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

Posted on

News you can use: 7/22/2015

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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.

    http://www.supplychaindigital.com/supplychainmanagement/4052/McDonalds-vow-to-end-deforestation-in-its-global-supply-chain

  • 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.

    http://mhwmagazine.co.uk/LatestNews/83%25_of_supply_chain_executives_report_lacklustre_performance_as_they_struggle_to_get_to_grips_with_e-19059.html

  • 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/