Tag: Travel Procurement

Posted on

News You Can Use: 10/19/2016

sn_tracks_jd-weiher

  • 6 Ways to Convince Your Boss That Traveling is Important

    The potential ROI gained from the trip is greater than the trip’s cost:
    For anyone who wants his or her boss to approve a business trip, it’s a good idea to map out the specific costs in advance, then estimate the potential ROI that could be garnered if you attended the event.

    Ensuring you keep all your business expenses related to the trip low — though many trips are tax deductible — will help create an optimistic view of the revenue potential and what positive gains could occur that could become the leverage for future business trips.

    https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/282904
    sn_travel_mindy

  • Rock ’em Sock ’em Telecom Services

    In telecommunications, acquisitions have strong influences on pricing structures, service offerings, and overall capabilities. The competition for these services continues to boom with more localized suppliers playing against the big wigs. Going for the “popular” name does not always result in the best fit for your company. When choosing a provider whether through a formal sourcing engagement or going to the market direct, you need an unbiased opinion and should focus on the facts versus fiction.

    http://www.strategicsourceror.com/2016/09/rock-em-sock-em-telecom-services.html

  • How To Manage Your Anxiety During Tough Times At Work

    When paranoid thinking creeps into your work life, you tend to look for evidence to prove your thinking right. It’s a cognitive function called“confirmation bias.” When you have a belief, for example, that someone is trying to keep you from getting promoted, you look for evidence that confirms that belief. In this case, you believe your colleague is blocking your promotion. When he doesn’t respond to your email, you see that as evidence of your belief.

    Instead of jumping to this conclusion, ask yourself, “What if the opposite were true?” What if he wasn’t blocking your promotion? What other reasons could there be for not responding to you?

    https://www.fastcompany.com/3063975/work-smart/how-to-manage-your-anxiety-during-tough-times-at-work
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  • How Wells Fargo’s Work Culture May Have Cleared The Way For Scandal

    The key ingredients that foster a hostile work environment, according to Faas, are unreasonable expectations put on employees, an acceptance of questionable practices, and reluctance to complain out of fear of retaliation. “If what we hear in the media about the treatment of whistleblowers is true, Wells Fargo has a much bigger issue than the fraudulent accounts—they have a culture of fear,” he says. “If this is validated, it puts to question the credibility of their leadership’s response.”

    https://www.fastcompany.com/3064175/how-wells-fargos-cross-selling-scandal-grew-out-of-workplace-culture

  • New Ernst & Young Report: Supply Chain Data “Overwhelms” Businesses, Stunting Automation, Efficiency

    Managing the data growth dilemma: The growing tsunami of data is both a boon and bane to businesses in the digital age. Limitless oceans of data, often reflecting customer experience as it happens, have the potential to remake supply chains and business models. These models can and should be more efficient, productive, flexible and responsive. But right now, data is a mess. The current period of hyper data growth leaves most companies in a position where their ability to uncover business insights is effectively hidden within an increasingly complex and often unfathomable amount of data.

    http://www.scmr.com/article/new_ernst_young_report_supply_chain_data_overwhelms_businesses_stunting_aut#When:12:53:00Z

  • Supply Risk and Compliance are Disconnected — That’s a Problem and an Opportunity

    So, you’re stuck in the supply risk swamp and bogged down by compliance regimes. And you know there is waste everywhere and opportunity all around. So, as a supply professional, what should you do? You need to align risk management and compliance management with not just each other but with performance management (including continuous improvement) — and tie them all into your value chain processes. As those processes go upstream and external, this is where procurement and supply chain groups feel this problem — and need for alignment — more than anyone in the enterprise.

    http://spendmatters.com/2016/09/27/supply-risk-compliance-disconnected-thats-problem-opportunity/

Photo: JD Weiher

Posted on

News You Can Use: 8/24/2016

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  • Why outsourced call center roles are coming back onshore

    While companies must pay more for onshore call center agents (offshore labor rates are typically 40 to 55 percent of onshore rates), increased automation has helped defray some of the extra expense of local labor. “While companies are ready to pay more for better quality services, increased technology leverage in a traditionally labor-intensive contact center space has offset some of the additional cost,” Bhargava says.

    In addition, companies are increasingly adopting a work-at-home model for agents, which incurs lower operational costs than onshore full-time-equivalents (FTEs). Work-at-home agents are typically 5 to 10 percent cheaper than on-site professionals in the U.S., Bhargava says.

    http://www.cio.com/article/3106821/outsourcing/why-outsourced-call-center-roles-are-coming-back-onshore.html

  • What’s Next After Supply Chains?

    http://www.onenetwork.com/2016/08/whats-next-after-supply-chains/
  • More airline outages as carriers grapple with ageing technology

    The reservations systems of the biggest carriers mostly run on a specialized IBM operating system known as Transaction Processing Facility, or TPF. It was designed in the 1960s to process large numbers of transactions quickly and is still updated by IBM, which did a major rewrite of the operating system about a decade ago.

    A host of special features, ranging from mobile check-ins to seat selection and cabin upgrades, are built on top of the TPF core, or connected to it.

    “They have surrounded that old industry infrastructure with modern technology,” said Bob Edwards, United Continental Holdings’ former chief information officer until 2014. “Those systems have to always reach back into the old core technologies to retrieve a reservation or to figure out who flies between Dallas and New York City.”

    When a power outage shuts off that reservations system – as happened on Monday to Delta Air Lines’ “Deltamatic” system – TPF falls out of sync with the newer technologies that passenger service agents use to assist travellers, Edwards said.

    http://www.business-standard.com/article/international/more-airline-outages-as-carriers-grapple-with-ageing-technology-116081301175_1.html

  • Exclusive: Honeywell explores acquisition of JDA Software

    The acquisition would illustrate how Honeywell, a U.S. diversified industrial conglomerate, is keen to boost its automation portfolio after it agreed last month to acquire Intelligrated Inc, a U.S. distribution systems and logistics company, for $1.5 billion.

    JDA Software’s majority owner, buyout firm New Mountain Capital LLC, has already explored a sale of the company to private equity firms, and there is no certainty its latest talks with Honeywell will result in a deal, the people said on Monday.

    https://www.yahoo.com/tech/exclusive-honeywell-explores-acquisition-jda-software-sources-200622953–sector.html

  • SAP Targets Terrorism With AI

    SAP National Security Services, which describes itself as an independent subsidiary of the German-based software giant that’s operated by U.S. citizens on American soil, works with homeland government agencies to find ways to track potential terrorists across social media.

    “One [use] is the identification of bad actors: People that may be threats to us—people and organizations,” says Mark Testoni, president and CEO of SAP NS2, as the company is known. “Secondarily, once we’ve identified those kinds of players and actors, we can then track their behaviors and organizations.”

    http://www.fastcompany.com/3062259/sap-targets-terrorism-with-ai

Photo: Nico Beard

Posted on

News You Can Use: 8/17/2016

sn_chains_Joey Kyber

  • Filler Words Like “Um” Aren’t All Bad, and Can Be Used to Your Advantage

    But, according to the experts, there’s still a right and wrong way to use them. Fraundorf recommends you try to use only a few when you talk, noting that too many can make comprehension harder. And Steven D. Cohen, assistant professor of communication at the University of Baltimore, suggests you use “like” and “I mean” as fillers instead of “uh” or “um.” People tend to be more forgiving of words that suggest contemplation as opposed to words that draw attention to a loss for words. Cohen also points out that filler words used in the middle of a sentence are less likely to be noticed, and a silent pause may be the best form of filler if you’re looking to have a dramatic impact on your listeners. If you want to read more on the benefits of filler words, check out the link below.

    http://lifehacker.com/filler-words-like-um-arent-all-bad-and-can-be-used-t-1784468757

  • Don’t Follow Your Passion by Mike Rowe
  • Brainstorming Is Dumb

    The old brainstorming method infiltrated the American workplace over half a century ago, after an advertising executive named Alex F. Osborn coined the method in the 1940s. As companies all over the country adopted the method, psychologists started to wonder: Does brainstorming actually work? Many scientific studies later, they had their answer: a resounding no. Study after study found that people who use this group technique produce fewer good ideas than those who ideate alone.

    But there is an alternative that works better:

    Over the past 20 years, researchers have discovered a collection of group techniques that they’ve found are more effective than both brainstorming and working alone. One of the best ones they’ve devised is brainwriting—it’s a kind of like brainstorming, except that group members write their ideas on pieces of paper instead of sharing out loud. People then pass those sheets of paper around the group and read each other’s ideas while they continue to write down their own ideas. This method allows the kind of group interaction that’s constructive (i.e., sharing ideas and building on them), while avoiding the pitfalls of face-to-face brainstorming.

    http://www.fastcodesign.com/3062292/evidence/brainstorming-is-dumb

  • 7 Ways to Cut Travel Expenses

    Small savings add up when it comes to long funding rounds and weeks at a time being spent on the road. For example, say that you and your partners need two hotel rooms, for a total of 21 nights, across various cities. Saving just $25 per hotel room per night will equal savings of $1,050. That’s a significant amount for a fledgling startup.

    https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/279734

  • Supply chain profile: Daniel Myers

    Q: What are some of the biggest changes you’ve seen during your career?

    A: I have seen us move in the industry from a siloed [view] to sharing information. We call my division the “integrated supply chain” because breaking down divisions is the secret to business success. We’ve got to be consumer-driven and optimize the total value chain to succeed, moving from silos to a focus on common metrics. The Information Age allows you to do that.

    Q: What hasn’t changed?

    A: The focus on having leaders of integrity who can build trust and “followership.” You can sense when you have a great leader because people want to be there. That’s true for all generations; Millennials want to work for something greater than money—they want to work for something they’re proud of.

    http://www.dcvelocity.com/articles/20160810-supply-chain-profile-daniel-myers/

Photo: Joey Kyber

Posted on

News You Can Use: 5/18/2016

sn_car_Matthias Zomer

  • After 20 Years, It’s Harder to Ignore the Digital Economy’s Dark Side

    The ongoing abuse of trust by office holders is not simply a series of isolated incidents; it is the manifestation of a deep and widespread rot. And people have had it. During the past 20 years, voter turnout has dropped in most western democracies, particularly among young people, who are looking for alternative ways to bring about social change.

    To restore legitimacy and trust, we need to do what The Digital Economy advised two decades ago: build a second era of democracy based on integrity and accountability, with stronger, more open institutions, active citizenship, and a culture of public discourse and participation.

    https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/after-20-years-its-harder-ignore-digital-economys-dark-don-tapscott?trk=hp-feed-article-title-ppl-follow

  • Asking for What You Need at Work
  • 5 Critical Supply Risk Mitigation Principles for Your Sourcing Process

    Many organizations try to deal with this through point-based supply risk management solutions centered around supply chain visibility, corporate social responsibility or supplier management, trying to implement the top-down “program du jour.” But what usually happens is a solution is acquired, key strategic suppliers are vetted once in a “check-the-box” compliance initiative and that’s it. Supply chain risk means managing the entire supply chain, not just tier 1 suppliers. All tiers, distributors, carriers, ports, transportation hubs, warehouses — a delay or disruption can start anywhere.

    Additionally:

    Supplier Risk is Only One Aspect of Supply Chain Risk
    When organizations consider supply risk within the sourcing process, they tend to focus on supplier-specific risks rather than the broader supply risks that get “inherited” from the nature of the items being sourced, the countries they originate from or flow through, the modes of transport and handling, the logistical hubs (or any location-specific asset), the sensitivity of the intellectual property of the items and the nature of customer-specific requirements passed back to you.

    http://spendmatters.com/2016/05/09/5-critical-supply-risk-mitigation-principles-for-your-sourcing-process/

  • Target Tells Suppliers To Shape Up Or Pay Up

    Target has little leash left to give to suppliers that can’t meet deadlines. With between 8 billion and 9 billion items circulating in brick-and-mortar stores during 2015, dips of small percentages can have big impacts when even a few shelves run dry. According to the new rules, gone are grace periods that allowed suppliers to deliver shipments within two to 12 days of expressed deadlines — in their place are fines totaling 5 percent of order costs and between $5,000 and $10,000 for suppliers who fail to include proper product information with their orders.

    http://www.pymnts.com/news/merchant-innovation/2016/supply-chain-target-inventory-delivery-deadline/

  • The Uber-effect: The rise of and risks for travel spend

    Saying all this though, Uber is such a popular service among the general public that it is certain to filter over into business use even if that comes outside of pre-arranged travel contracts. To get on top of that potential area of maverick spend, procurement must address this issue right away.

    Indeed, a recent study by Certify, a software analysis company, found that in the first quarter of 2016, 46% of all ground transportation transactions for business travellers were for ride-hailing services, compared with 40% for car rentals and 14% for taxis. A clear indication of just how popular companies like Uber and their rivals are becoming in the corporate travel space.

    http://www.procurementleaders.com/blog/my-blog–sophie-dyer/the-uber-effect-the-rise-of-and-risks-for-travel-spend-616211

  • Tableau Fundamentals:  An Intro into Aggregation

    Perhaps the most important lesson from this post is a line I hear myself saying almost every day: there is always more than one way to do something in Tableau. You will find your own techniques, form your own habits, and hear different opinions – and they likely will all have merit. You truly can take multiple paths to get to the same end result in Tableau. We are about to discuss five different ways to create a bar chart, and it’s not even a comprehensive list!

    http://www.evolytics.com/blog/tableau-fundamentals-5-ways-make-bar-chart-intro-aggregation/

Photo: Matthias Zomer

Posted on

News You Can Use: 6/15/2015

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  • 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