September, 2010

Kraft Buys Into the Mirage of Vendor Rationalization

“How important is effective internal collaboration? Just ask a candy company in the U.S. mid-west. As the manufacturer of a number of leading brands, this organization grew dramatically in a very short period of time through a series of acquisitions. Unfortunately, an extemporal supply base was a byproduct of the transactions leaving the acquiring company with a highly suspicious, deeply...

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The Paucity of suppliers bidding on City of Ottawa contracts is a symptom of a much larger problem

It would be difficult for me to actually provide a number relative to how many times I have referenced the problems associated with what I refer to as an eroding supply based. Over the past few years, and more recently within the pages of this blog or on the virtual airwaves of the PI Window on Business Show, I have talked about the challenges organizations in both the public and private sectors...

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Intel, UNC’s Coal Supply and Abbott’s Bottles: When the Shoe is on the Other Foot

It was interesting in that as I was reading the story about Intel in which it is alleged that the company “Used bribery and coercion to maintain its dominance in the microprocessor market,” I could not help but think that this was not the first time that the proverbial shoe was on the other foot in terms of the sometimes strained relationship between buyer and supplier. I...

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Defense Secretary Gates Calls for Procurement Reform…and He Puts Competitive Bidding at the Forefront of the Pentagon’s New Priorities

The following excerpt has been reprinted electronically with permission from the the Reverse Auction Research Center Blog.  Use the following link to access the post in its entirety: Procurement Reform. Big news out of the Pentagon has Robert Gates, The Secretary of Defense, has issued a new report calling for big changes – fundamental changes – in the way the military does business...

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Supply Chain Integration Video: It Had Me At Hello!

mac internet security software p>Okay, so I chose to use a cheesy line from a mildly entertaining movie. I hang my head in shame not because it isn’t an applicable reference to a recent video I witnessed on supply chain integration, but because I saw the movie in the first place. (For those of you who may not be familiar with the line, it is from Jerry McGuire . . . further shame.) That...

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Interview with Dr. David Wyld reveals that when it comes to SaaS, Oracle’s and SAP’s future will be difficult

In today’s PI Window on Business interview “Reversing Attitudes: Why Reverse Auctions May Actually Be Good For Your Purchasing Practice” I had the opportunity to talk with Dr. David Wyld from The Reverse Auction Research Center. During the 60 minute broadcast, which aired live across the Blog Talk Radio Network, we exchanged insights and experiences from career paths that seemed...

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Reversing Attitudes: Why Reverse Auctions May Actually Be Good For Your Purchasing Practice

p>Consisting of more than 200 senior executives, the following is just a sample of the comments I received from the audience: “I do not think that buyers spend any time at all analyzing RFQ’s . . . once they have sent them out they go directly to the price auction and get on a phone and those who cut the price get the business.” “We spend too much time working on RFQ’s . . . the RFQ...

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