News You Can Use: 11/4/2015
- Millennials: Death to the Cubicle!
Open floor plans are not the answer, having worked in open spaces and cube farms – neither are good. It is about the culture of the work place. If the company has their people on the phone all day, you need enclosed places. If you are developers that need to collaborate (and spent large portions of the day in quiet), open floor plans work nicely.Millennials have grown up understanding that work is an activity, not something that happens in any predetermined time or space. Accordingly, they insist on having the freedom to choose where and when they work, and they want to be measured on performance — not face time or office politics. So how does that change the way our workplaces and workflows are designed?
- Federal IT outsourcing spend alarmingly poorly managed
The GAO analyzed agency policies, procurement and contracting data, and interviewed agency and contractor officials. While leading companies strategically manage about 90 percent of the IT procurement spending, these government agencies strategically managed just a fraction of that. The U.S. Navy, for example, which spent $3.3 billion on IT services in 2013, awarded just 10 percent of that work via strategically managed outsourcing contracts, according to the GAO. The U.S. Air Force strategically managed 17 percent of its $1.4 million IT services spend, the U.S. Army did so with 27 percent of its $3.5 billion spend, and NASA did so with 35 percent of its smaller $855 million IT outsourcing investment. DHS was the best performer, sourcing 44 percent of its $2.2 billion IT procurement budget in strategic deals.
- 11 Tweaks to Your Daily Routine Will Make Your Day More Productive
Listicles… there are some solid points in this post once you get around the trash:“Eating a frog” is the greatest antidote to procrastination, and the most productive people know the importance of biting into this delicacy first thing in the morning. In other words, spend your morning on something that requires a high level of concentration that you don’t want to do, and you’ll get it done in short order. Make a habit of eating three frogs before you check your e-mail because e-mail is a major distraction that enables procrastination and wastes precious mental energy.
- Software vendors – fear and loathing
Why? Because the most successful software firms are masters at high-pressure, bullying sales tactics. Take Oracle. The company specializes in trying to convince potential new customers that its license terms and model are harmless and easy to use.
Once the customer licenses the product, however, Oracle takes a new tack. The company launches software audits and then argues that there are license restrictions it did not talk about during the sales process but that the customer has now breached.
How do Oracle and other vendors get away with these tactics? Path dependency. Software vendors know that once a large company has implemented an enterprise-wide or otherwise significant software tool it is hard to switch.
- The Six Strategic Sourcing Samurai
So who are these six strategic sourcing samurai? They are the six remaining companies that took the time and effort to not only research and build a solution, but take it to market and wait while the market caught up with the vision that a few pioneers had fifteen years ago — a vision of true best-cost global sourcing from a total cost of ownership (and, more recently, from a total value management) perspective.
http://sourcinginnovation.com/wordpress/2015/10/30/the-six-strategic-sourcing-samurai/
- 39% of L.A. millennials ‘chronically stressed’ about money, survey finds
A new survey by Bank of America and USA Today found that L.A. millennials ages 18 to 34 say they have a clear understanding of their financial situation and 44% are prepared for a rainy day, with three months of living expenses saved up.
But 75% say they worry about their finances “often” or at least “sometimes,” with 39% saying they are “chronically stressed” about money.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-millennials-money-20151022-htmlstory.html
- Are US tech giants harming national security by partnering with China’s firms?
A report made public this week from a security firm with longstanding ties to the Defense Department, the Defense Group Inc., said IBM’s partnerships in China, which are part of a global initiative that the company calls Open Power, are already damaging US national security. “IBM is endangering the national and economic security of the United States, risking the cybersecurity of their customers globally, and undermining decades of US nonproliferation policies regarding high-performance ..
News You Can Use: 10/28/2015
- Millennials: Entitled or Just Ambitious?
As they come into their own professionally, millennials are shifting corporate culture and the way companies are organized. In this video, Jamie Notter, co-author of “When Millennials Take Over” digs deeply into common millennial values and how they’re changing the ways top companies compete for premium talent. Unlike previous generations, millennials aren’t satisfied with years of “paying their dues” in positions of low responsibility. They want autonomy, transparency, and a sense of mission. Expect to see the tides continue to shift in this direction as the emerging generation takes the reins in the coming decade.
- Your Best Ally For A Big Data Budget
Under pressure to provide better information on their businesses, CFOs are beginning to latch onto the possibilities that big data and analytics offer for their own financial reporting. A survey by Ernst & Young found that 90% of the 500 responding CFOs and others with financial titles expect to be reporting on forecasting, sustainability, and corporate social responsibility within three years. That effort will take some investment, and CPOs can perhaps make a case that with their management of the supply chain they can help, if they have the resources.
- Why Dell acquisitions strategy beats the industry’s Frankenstein approach
Dell’s method was developed initially at IBM to preserve the value of the acquisition. It does that by shifting the focus from conformance to focusing on the value of the company acquired. The first step is to identify and protect the assets that were acquired and then not doing anything to damage what was purchased. In general the firms culture, process, compensation plan, span of control, executive team, hiring process, and even location remain intact.
What gets changed are things that can be done behind the scenes to cut costs and increase execution. For instance, it is common to use Dell’s advanced supply chain to increase the speed of the acquired firm’s execution and reduce its costs. If the change makes financial sense and doesn’t put the identified assets at risk then it is put into the plan, if it doesn’t it isn’t.
- How to cure the Sunday night blues
I am definitely someone who suffers from Sunday night blues and of all their suggestions, this is the one that I deploy to keep it in check…While it’s tempting to dash out the door on Friday evening, you might be doing yourself a big favor if you take a bit of time to organize the following week first, O’Brien says. Or, take a few minutes on Saturday morning to plan what will need to be done on Monday, ensure you have the information and resources you need to complete those tasks, and identify any obstacles or challenges so they don’t catch you by surprise.
- CIOs turn to cloud-based analytics to manage IT asset costs
I want to know more about this Apptio services to see if it is legit…LaPlaine says he started off with rudimentary calculations, using Apptio to figure out total IT costs divided by total IT assets. This revealed data duplications in the general ledger, missing lease costs and other bad data. “We spent a ton of time cleaning up data … now we have a very rich model,” LaPlaine says. He counts 25 IT services in AOL’s service catalog, which produce 70 invoices every month to run and support IT services, including public cloud software from Amazon Web Services and Salesforce.com, as well as kilowatt power costs its IT systems generate. LaPlaine, who sends the corporate finance department a file with the costs every month, says he’s also using a new planning tool from Apptio to build his IT budget for 2016
- More on Apptio… (from 2009 and not directly published from the company)
Here is something from the company…
- Make Your Company More Like a Family to Attract Talent
This is easier said than done with HR policy and in companies with a downsize requirement. That being said… I lean more towards this style than not (and did so when I had my store)Beyond earning insight into a company’s operating information, employees need to feel like they’re given ample opportunity for personal development and that the company is invested in making that development happen. Sixty-one percent of highly talented managers work to leverage and develop employee strengths and attributes,according to Gallup. I’ve prioritized investments into a leadership development program that teaches basic management skills to current and future managers. Better leaders help motivate and inspire employees. In turn, those new leaders will live up to a company’s values and reinforce its culture.
News You Can Use: 10/21/2015
- A FORMER GOOGLE RECRUITER REVEALS THE BIGGEST RESUME MISTAKES
I will point out this one since I get into a disagreement almost every time I mention removing it…OBJECTIVE STATEMENTS ARE OBJECTIVELY BAD
“These are a bit old school and are generally pretty generic,” Bacon explains. He believes they’re also typically too focused on what the candidate wants for themselves instead of what they can do for the company to which they’re applying. - Should Vendor Executives Be Held Personally Liable For Failed Implementations?
What if company executives had to personally guarantee that they had performed a “capability audit” before entering into a contract, verifying that they could indeed deliver a working solution within the appointed time and for the agreed upon cost. This capability audit would then become the basis to hold not only the company, but the executives themselves, personally liable if said implementation did not occur has promised.
- China to consume nearly 30% of the world’s flash, 21% of DRAM
“Increasing shipments of Chinese-branded PCs and smartphones in recent years have contributed to the overall DRAM demand,” said Avril Wu, assistant vice president at DRAMeXchange. “China’s top PC maker Lenovo and the global PC market leader HP are neck on neck on shipments, and this is an indication that the Chinese brand vendors’ purchasing power in the DRAM market is getting stronger every year.”
- Why You Might Want to Hold Your Next Business Meeting on a Boat
Somebody needs to share this with the big boss… officially a trend setter.“It’s a perfect place to close a deal,” says Adrian Gradinaru, co-founder of Sailo, an online peer-to-peer boat rental marketplace where you can compare and book a boat for a day or even part of a day. “You tend to be a bit more open to things when you are really happy, so people tend to be happy on the water, looking at New York. You tend to be a little bit more cooperative when you are on the water.”
- 3 Tips to Develop a Balanced Supplier-Vendor Relationship
While there is always room for caution, never approach a new partnership as if you are going to be cheated. Instead, remember that a bit of humility and humanity can go a long way. Even when negotiations do not go as well as expected, remaining positive can preserve partnerships for long-term success.
- Office “treehouses”…
I am not big on the “resting places in the office” fad, be it a cocoon or a tree house or even a heavily pillowed area. I don’t care how “cool” the work place environment is, if an owner or executive walks by and sees someone taking a powder… game over. (But they are kinda cool)
http://www.fastcoexist.com/3051747/open-office-getting-you-down-maybe-you-need-an-office-treehouse
News You Can Use: 10/14/2015
- How mergers and acquisitions affect supply chains
According to Dr. Harpal Singh, in an article for Supply Chain Quarterly, post-merger supply chain assessments should focus on three major aspects: integration, optimization and acceptance. All three posts are intended to assure that supply chain systems exist on all levels, present themselves in their best form and are widely accepted company supply chain policy.
http://www.strategicsourceror.com/2015/10/how-mergers-and-acquisitions-affect.html
- ELON MUSK: “IF YOU DON’T MAKE IT AT TESLA, YOU GO WORK AT APPLE”
“They have hired people we’ve fired,” he said. “We always jokingly call Apple the ‘Tesla Graveyard.’ If you don’t make it at Tesla, you go work at Apple. I’m not kidding.”
- How feds helped Amazon make cloud ‘the new normal’
More agencies are hopping on board, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, which announced a $39 million contract with Reston-based Blue Canopy to build the agency’s advanced analytics capabilities on AWS.
http://fedscoop.com/how-feds-helped-amazon-make-cloud-the-new-normal
- 3 Supply Chain Career Requirements for Millennials
Anybody working at the moment wants these things, not just the millennial crowdHow does this translate to working in supply chain management? Best guesses, ad hoc decision-making, and antiquated forecasting and planning methodologies represent a minefield of frustration for the millennial worker. They want access to data and analytics that provide actionable insights—quickly. If you can provide them with that, their confidence in analyzing and acting on data will translate into significant operational effectiveness for your supply chain.
https://blog.kinaxis.com/2015/10/3-supply-chain-career-requirements-for-millennials/