How to Select Strategic Suppliers – Part 2: Reconciling Buyer and Supplier Perspectives

Posted on 8 February 2012 by Tony Colwell

Few customer-supplier partnerships are equal. Buyers need to be wary of entering into dependent relationships where the supplier will gain a dominant position. This is the second part of a 2-part article which sets out to examine how and why Procurement might consider the supplier’s perspective when selecting suppliers. It is particularly relevant for strategic supplies, where value creation and value capture are key objectives. Continue reading →

How to Select Strategic Suppliers – Part 1: Beware the Supplier’s Perspective

Posted on 7 February 2012 by Tony Colwell

Few customer-supplier partnerships are equal. Buyers need to be wary of entering into dependent relationships where the supplier will gain a dominant position. This is the first part of a 2-part article which sets out to examine how and why Procurement might consider the supplier’s perspective when selecting suppliers. It is particularly relevant for strategic supplies, where value creation and value capture are key objectives. Continue reading →

How to Determine Procurement Organisation – Part 3: The 5 Dimensions in Detail

Posted on 27 January 2012 by Tony Colwell

This is the third in a series of articles which examine the internal and external factors which, when taken into consideration, will indicate the preferred model for procurement within a business. Continue reading →

How to Determine Procurement Organisation – Part 2: 5 Dimensions to be Considered

Posted on 21 January 2012 by Tony Colwell

This is the second in a series of articles which examine the internal and external factors which, when taken into consideration, will indicate the preferred model for procurement within a business. Continue reading →

How to Determine Procurement Organisation – Part 1: 10 Objectives for Procurement

Posted on 12 January 2012 by Tony Colwell

A discussion has been running in the Procurement Professionals Group on LinkedIn to explore why do centralised procurement initiatives often promise substantial savings, then fail to deliver to the bottom line? Apart from historically falling short of expectations, we are facing new issues such as increasing emphasis on corporate social responsibility and sustainability. The discussion prompted me to write a short article setting out 5 models for procurement organisation and start another discussion, Continue reading →

Is your Procurement initiative really a cost saver? – The 8 questions to ask.

Posted on 27 December 2011 by Tony Colwell

Today I ask, “How are you to know that your procurement ‘cost saving’ initiative will not deliver to the bottom line?”

Regular readers of my blog will know that, recently, I wrote a series of articles on the reasons why, when many large organisations embark on centralised procurement initiatives with the promise of substantial savings, direct increases in profitability fail to materialize within the business units. Continue reading →

5 Models for procurement organisation

Posted on 5 December 2011 by Tony Colwell

A discussion has been running in the Procurement Professionals Group on LinkedIn to explore the reasons why centralised procurement initiatives often promise substantial savings, then fail to deliver to the bottom line. Various contributors have expressed different interpretations of “centralised procurement” which has prompted me to write a short article setting out the five models for procurement organisation. Continue reading →

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