Author Archives: Dave Cravens - Iasta
As procurement departments are trudging down the path to becoming best-in-class, Integrated Category Management organizations, it can help to take a step back to look at the big picture. Putting out fires and maintaining laser-like focus on cost reduction and other tactical activities can consume our days and force us to put more strategic endeavors on the back burner. So, before you move into the holiday season and start thinking about your New Year’s resolutions, do what you can to … More
It seems that there are still some misunderstandings in the marketplace about the place of reverse auctions in eSourcing. I’ve noticed that several procurement professionals are facing resistance from their internal stakeholders to using eSourcing platforms. This puzzled me, so I decided to put on my detective’s hat. In my investigation, I determined that many procurement professionals: • Use a rigorous sourcing process or “playbook” • Have a common platform that provides a centralized place for everyone to collaborate and gain visibility … More
The old joke is that work would be great if it weren’t for the people. I have updated it to reflect one of the biggest challenges that Procurement professionals face as they try to implement their spend management programs: Change Management. Throughout my travels, from Texas through the Carolinas, I keep hearing a similar story: Change Management is one of the top hurdles that must be overcome in order to accomplish cost-reduction goals. The best multi-step sourcing playbook powered by … More
No, I am not talking about your vehicle selection; I’m referring to your spend management strategy and organizational structure. As Procurement departments face resource constraints and the ever-present need to drive hard dollar savings each year, choices need to be made: 1. Do we centralize? 2. Do we decentralize? 3. Do we find a third way? Perhaps a “hybrid”? Center-led or “hybrid” organizations are becoming more and more popular among the Fortune 1000 companies. Becoming a hybrid company is a great way for … More
It seems like everything that can go wrong, has gone wrong this month. The credit markets are frozen, the stock market has lost $2 trillion worth of value in the blink of an eye, and here in Atlanta, it has been a re-run of that 70’s show where a Hurricane Ike-induced gas shortage has created waits of over an hour for cars that are lined up for blocks to buy gas. It seems like there is nothing but bad news … More
Last week, the Doctor gave some good information on green purchasing. I do not want to be repetitive, but I ran across an article by Kimberly Knickle of Manufacturing Insights that had some great tips that expand upon this topic. Here is a summary of the suggested guidelines that resulted from her research: • Your company may need to rethink its business model: Energy companies clearly face this, with their shift away from a model where revenue increases with demand. … More
A recent article about the value of purchasing positions in Purchasing Magazine made me a little nostalgic. During my time in the wilderness between my GE/TPN days and my current position with Iasta, I ran my own business as an executive recruiter for purchasing and supply chain professionals. My pitch was…instead of selling software and services, I got people jobs. As anyone who has tried to hire someone using newspaper or Internet job sites, a flood of resumes will come … More
While slaving away each week at the gym on an ARC trainer, I have picked up an interesting thought. While others are focused on the Family Guy or Friends re-runs, I usually watch shows like Kudlow & Company on CNBC. Every day the major media are trumpeting the line that recession is here and we are facing Malthusian shortages in food and oil that remind me of my childhood in the 1970’s. Meanwhile, gold has dropped back down below $1,000 … More
Back in the go-go days at the turn of the millenium, digital marketplaces were taking the world by storm. Everywhere you looked, industry groups were creating business-to-business marketplaces. Sales at Commerce One and similar software companies were exploding by selling to digital marketplaces and exchanges. Millions of dollars in revenue were anticipated by charging transaction fees to suppliers. Large amounts of venture capital poured in for just about any market segment imaginable. Unfortunately, “the music stopped” when the suppliers rebelled … More
