Industry News Archives - Page 47 of 51

July 15, 2015January 30, 2016

News you can use: 7/15/2015

Photo: Thomas Hawk, Flickr

CEO Pay Has Risen 90 Times Faster Than Average Worker Pay Since The 1970s

Defenders of outsized executive pay argue CEOs get what they deserve: that their performance justifies the huge outlays. But the paper doesn’t find much evidence for it, at least in the aggregate. Between 1978 and 2014, the stock market rose only about half as much as CEO pay did. And CEO pay has been rising across the board, both at companies that have been doing well and those that haven’t.

http://www.fastcoexist.com/3048172/ceo-pay-has-risen-90-times-faster-than-average-worker-pay-since-the-1970s?partner=rss
Workday is creating a supply chain tool for the healthcare industry

“Health care providers are dealing with a significant amount of complexity,” said Workday Vice President of Industry Strategy and Alliances John Webb. “New regulations, industry consolidation and a shifting patient relationship are changing the way they manage their organizations. With Workday, health care providers will have the people, financial and supply chain insights they need, all in one system built on a flexible foundation from which they can continually adapt and grow in a dynamic industry.

http://www.pymnts.com/news/b2b-payments/2015/workday-launches-finance-supply-chain-tool-for-healthcare/
4 Surefire Ways to Grow Your Circle of Influence

1. Do what you say. Nothing erodes personal credibility faster than a lack of trust. Building trust is fundamental to increasing your circle of influence. If you possess the skill to execute project A and the will to do so ethically, then others’ trust in you will increase. Just be consistent because once you break that trust it’s like taking a piece of paper, wrinkling it up and then trying to flatten it out again — it never actually returns to its original state.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/248220?ctp=BizDev&src=Syndication&msc=Feedly
LOGISTICS COSTS ARE UP, BUT SO ARE WAYS TO MANAGE THEM

But the most prominent reason for rising supply chain management costs, researchers found, was transportation. According to the CSCMP, transportation costs increased by 3.6 percent last year due to larger shipment volumes, the emergence of same-day delivery models and the continuing adoption of eCommerce. These trends are forcing warehouse management strategies to change and have largely led to the adoption of warehouse management Software-as-a-Service solutions.

http://www.pymnts.com/in-depth/2015/logistics-costs-are-up-but-so-are-ways-to-manage-them/
How I Broke Through My Own Mediocrity

The mediocre entrepreneur doesn’t “Blink” in the Malcolm Gladwell sense. In Gladwell’s book he often talks about people who can form snap correct judgements in two or three seconds. My initial judgement when I meet or even see people is this: I hate you. And then I veer from that to too trusting. Finally, after I bounce back and forth, and through much trial and error, I end up somewhere in the middle. I also tend to drop people I can’t trust very quickly. I think the great entrepreneur can make snap judgements and be very successful with it. But that doesn’t work for most people.

http://lifehacker.com/how-i-broke-through-my-own-mediocrity-1716887232
Small Cloud Providers Serve Supply Chain Management Market

The SCM market is highly fragmented. The top 10 vendors have about 55% of the market, with the remainder split among 57 vendors. These 57 experienced average annual revenue growth of 9.6%, indicating strong demand for specialized offerings that are competitive with, and sometimes complementary to, the larger providers’ products.

http://www.ebnonline.com/author.asp?section_id=1084&doc_id=278076

July 8, 2015January 30, 2016

News you can use: 7/8/2015

Enterprises Don’t Have Big Data, They Just Have Bad Data

The truth is, most of them suffer from one of the old adages in computing: garbage in, garbage out. Not only do most of them actually not have Big Data in terms of data complexity or volume, but most of them actually have Crappy Data, and it’s probably hurting their business. According to Experian Data Quality, inaccurate data affects the bottom line of 88 percent of organizations and impacts up to 12 percent of revenues.

http://techcrunch.com/2015/07/01/enterprises-dont-have-big-data-they-just-have-bad-data/
Procter & Gamble’s Futuristic Control Tower Environment

Another partner for the P&G Business Sphere solution is SAP. Perhaps not entirely coincidentally, SAP begun talking about their new supply chain control tower solution last year. Their control tower incorporates the idea of reacting to alerts with prebuilt playbooks that allow an organization to react quickly and with agility to unexpected situations. (See The New SAP Supply Chain Control Tower for a description of playbooks and their control tower solution stack).

http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevebanker/2015/07/01/procter-gambles-futuristic-control-tower-environment/
6 Best Practices for Managing Unhappy Employees

If the issue stems from something within your company, gather as much information as you can before deciding how to act. But even if it’s a lifestyle factor influencing your employee’s behavior, don’t ignore it just because it comes from outside your four walls. Use it as an opportunity to show them that they’re more than just a name on an HR folder. Offering assistance, whether through a formal employee assistance program or other means, will build their loyalty to your company.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/247595
The Hidden Cost of a Summer Slump

“Satisfied and engaged employees are less likely to abuse the company’s sick policy,” he says. But it’s not enough to just do a head count. Schwarz says managers should compare absenteeism between different teams, departments, locations, and performance levels to determine whether there are more people taking leave during the summer months. Then, he recommends looking to see if one manager has a larger degree of absenteeism than another.

http://www.fastcompany.com/3048157/the-future-of-work/the-hidden-costs-of-the-summer-slump?partner=rss
The Secret To Walt Disney’s Corporate Strategy
Hint: It is a massive feedback loop…

http://www.fastcodesign.com/3048046/infographic-of-the-day/the-secret-to-walt-disneys-corporate-strategy?partner=rss

July 1, 2015January 30, 2016

News You Can Use: 7/1/2015

6 Life Hacks Learned in Prison That Will Maximize Your Productivity

I’ve learned to think diligently about my thoughts, and use them to communicate more effectively. Writing can help you organize your thoughts better and actually helps you to be a better verbal communicator. Start with communicating to your team via email, send emails to partners about discussions and/or send emails to your spouse when working through tough decisions.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/247779?ctp=BizDev&src=Syndication&msc=Feedly
The Rise Of Trust (And Speed) In Supplier Enablement (Coupa’s Adam Alphin to look at the future of supplier enablement.)

Simply put, it’s injected trust into a conversation that previously felt like buyers were cornering or holding hostage their supply base. This trust has resulted in higher engagement, much higher participation in e-invoicing, and get this…suppliers becoming change agents within our customers organizations! We believe the conversation must change from “Here is a web portal that you’ll be charged to use, you’re now required to use it to be our supplier” to “Here are our business objectives we think are in both of our best interest, here are a series of tools we’re providing (for free!) so we can help each other achieve those objectives.”

http://www.procurementleaders.com/blog/my-blog–guest-blog/the-rise-of-trust-and-speed-in-supplier-enablement-547830
‘The Irrigation Effect’: Why Your Employees Aren’t Getting the Message

Many leaders are surprised to learn that they are the barriers. We assume that we’ve communicated effectively when, in reality, the information we share is sparse, insufficient, infrequent, or simply inaccurate. Keep in mind that between the source of the water and the end of the row, the water may have to pass through multiple channels before it arrives. If managers don’t make a conscious effort to facilitate the flow of information, rather than obstruct it, vital communication is likely to dissipate before reaching those parts of the field where it is needed most.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/240849?ctp=BizDev&src=Syndication&msc=Feedly
Supply Chain Talent Crisis Looms

Years of headcount reduction, training budget cuts, and the retirement of highly skilled individuals have all contributed to the shortage of supply chain talent. At the same time, a combination of accelerating technology development and widespread experimentation with new operating models are expanding the scope of supply chain operations, creating a demand for new types of supply chain employees—a trend that is only expected to accelerate in the future. “Margins are so thin in many industries that any technology or operational change that can provide a competitive advantage—whether its 3D printing or advanced analytics—is critical. And those capabilities are inherently dependent on talent,” explains Kelly Marchese, a principal and supply chain leader with Deloitte Consulting LLP.

http://deloitte.wsj.com/cio/2015/06/25/supply-chain-talent-crisis-looms/
Are the days of global supply chains numbered?

In Global Supply Chains: New Directions, the Standard Chartered Bank acknowledges that several macroeconomic trends, such as increasing urbanization, more sophisticated communications technology, and lower oil prices, continue to support the growth of global supply chains. Yet at the same time, other trends are creating a sort of headwind that is slowing the pace of growth. For example, automation and robotics are improving, making it easier for companies to stop chasing low-cost labor abroad and bring their manufacturing operations back to local markets. Increasing concerns about sustainability and the high carbon footprint of global supply chains may also be dampening global supply chain growth. Some companies are interested in shortening their supply chains to avoid the risk of disruptions due to a natural disaster or civil unrest half a world away.

http://www.supplychainquarterly.com/news/20150624-are-the-days-of-global-supply-chains-numbered/

June 15, 2015January 30, 2016

News You Can Use: 6/15/2015

Generation Y: A New Challenge For Travel Procurement

When it comes to business travel, these digitally-savvy employees expect a sleek, consumer-like experience from corporate booking tools: when they don’t get it they turn to the consumer applications they already have to hand, and book outside the corporate environment. Not only can this lead to irresponsible spending, and weaker negotiated rates in the future, but it poses significant risks to a company’s “duty of care” responsibility towards its employees. If you don’t know where they are, you can’t help them in an emergency. So how can procurement help to bring Generation Y back into the fold?

http://www.procurementleaders.com/blog/my-blog–guest-blog/generation-y-a-new-challenge-for-travel-procurement-542624
IBM and Procurement Transformation: By the Numbers, Risk Management and More
[While this is interesting, I really want to know more about the AI/Watson solutions that IBM just started talking about]

From a numbers perspective, IBM’s procurement performance KPIs and performance improvement metrics are more than impressive. Michael noted IBM saved $6.9B in approved and measured savings targets in 2014 compared to before the program was put into place. Payment terms now stand at close to 60 days rather than 30 days. Spend and contract compliance has increased from 50% to over 90%. Sourcing experts now look at 100% of spend compared to less than 10%. Electronic invoicing has increased from 20% to 90%. And 83% of POs never touch a buyer.

http://spendmatters.com/2015/06/04/ibm-and-procurement-transformation-by-the-numbers-risk-management-and-more/
The Basics of making small talk:
This Calculator Will Tell You If A Robot Is Coming For Your Job

For now, those with the highest-skill, highest-paid jobs are probably safe, and low-skill workers are not. “Inequality is probably the foremost challenge,” says Osborne. “It’s not going to be a problem of there not being enough wealth. We’re fairly confident that all of these technologies will continue to generate vast amounts of wealth—we’ll be generating a cornucopia of increasingly cheap and wonderful goods that will be able to be produced for next to zero marginal cost. But those benefits we’ll see as consumers might not necessarily be realized by workers.”

http://www.fastcoexist.com/3047269/this-calculator-will-tell-you-if-a-robot-is-coming-for-your-job?partner=rss
3 Reasons ‘Casual Flex’ at Work Doesn’t Work

What’s more, one-third of workers worldwide feel stressed about work-life issues, according to a study by Ernst & Young about work-life challenges. And flexible-work policies that are merely informal may cause other systemic problems: A Boston University study found employees at a Boston consulting firm faking their 80-hour work weeks over fears that asking to use flexible-work options would cause negative reactions from management. These fears were well founded, it turns out. Employees who faked 80-hour workweeks were given excellent performance reviews, while those who openly asked for flexibility were negatively reviewed, even though they worked the same number of hours as their faking colleagues. That sort of scenario undermines trust and confidence in working relationships, to say the least.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/246802?ctp=BizDev&src=Syndication&msc=Feedly

May 20, 2015January 30, 2016

The Supply Chain: 5/20/2015

IBM Empower 2015: The Evolution of Supplier Engagement General Session
The Empower event took place last week, I have been scanning the web to see if any video was released:

The recent CPO study from the IBM Institute for Business Value highlights the changing relationship between the enterprise and their suppliers. The procurement organization and its internal stakeholders are the conduit to innovation and value held within the supply chain. Unlocking that potential is key to driving the next wave of transformation and evolution. Join us in the Empower general session to hear the debate about what’s next for procurement and learn from your peers on what they are doing to release the value from their supply base.
Why businesses should combine NPS with analytics

Alec Gardner, general manager ANZ, Teradata, says, “Businesses should be using data analytics in conjunction with NPS to enhance customer satisfaction, and in many cases, even help predict NPS.” “Doing this lets companies use data analytics to proactively seek customer sentiment using channels such as social media well ahead of the customer’s intention to contact the company,” Gardner says. ”Discovery analytics from big data sources lets companies gain new insights about competitors as well as their own products or services.”

http://itbrief.co.nz/story/why-businesses-should-combine-nps-analytics/
What to Ask, and Not Ask, Your Cloud Hosting Provider

Don’t Ask: What is the provider’s availability record? This may seem like a very important question, and it is. However, it should be noted that if you’re researching a reputable hosting provider, many of the organizations that report on downtime don’t look at the clients of the provider, but only at the provider’s website. This can create false positive or negative results, since it isn’t a customer production environment.

http://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/from-under-the-rug/what-to-ask-and-not-ask-your-cloud-hosting-provider.html
I read this Fast Company article this morning and thought it would be good to share (I think this will sound very familiar to something happening in July):
THE MESSY BUSINESS OF REINVENTING HAPPINESS

It is a tale of corporate politics, personal feuds, and turf wars. But it also the story of a success, even though the project didn’t fully deliver on its massive ambitions. This is what happens when a huge corporation tries to reinvent itself. This is what you have to do when you better make it work.

http://www.fastcompany.com/3044283/the-messy-business-of-reinventing-happiness#!