Monthly Archives: March 2006

• Creating a truely level playing field for panels of suppliers

  Posted on March 26, 2006 by hudgeon in VendorManagement

  For supplier panels, I agree with the quote below … after all, it is the premise behind River Dynamics, a company I founded in 2000 and have since sold. However, the playing field needs to be a true two-dimensional field rather than a single-dimension price-point comparison. The purchaser needs to consider all of the elements [...]

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  Trust, service delivery and contract management

  Posted on March 26, 2006 by hudgeon in VendorManagement

  I have been thinking recently about the relationship between trust, service delivery and contract management. These three dimensions are loosely linked over the short term but tightly linked over the long term. For example, in the early stages of a relationship, a purchasers level of trust in their supplier is built largely on the supplier’s [...]

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• Making interorganisational relationships work

  Posted on March 21, 2006 by hudgeon in VendorManagement

  M@n@gement, 8:4, Pitsis, Josserand, Clegg and Kornberger M@n@gement has a terrific series of article in their special edition: Making Interorganizational Relationships Work. Of particular note is an article by Knoppen and Cristeaanse entitled A Transformational Lens on Supply Chain Partnerships in which they assert that “The transformational lens contributes by facilitating a more complete picture [...]

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• An indictment of procurement departments

  Posted on March 20, 2006 by hudgeon in VendorManagement

  Supply Management.com – Getting in on the act Trying to apply traditional procurement processes to a BPO deal is “like nailing jelly to a wall”, says Scott.He adds: “BPO deals depend on price, service and flexibility. [The] Procurement [department] is good at delivering price and service, but it’s not good at flexibility. [Emphasis mine]” The [...]

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• Procurement outsourcing stats

  Posted on March 19, 2006 by hudgeon in VendorManagement

  Outsourcing lands in procurement – 3/16/2006 – Purchasing – CA6315354 According to research from the Everest Group in Dallas, which publishes an annual study on procurement outsourcing, the procurement outsourcing sector grew 30% in 2005 to reach $297 million. It is expected to exceed $380 million in 2006. Given that the current “spend base” is [...]

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• Are we focusing too much on procurement?

  Posted on March 19, 2006 by hudgeon in VendorManagement

  I remember a conversation I had as a teenager in which a friend and I were discussing life partners. She thought that, out of the billions of people on earth, we had only one true life partner and I thought that any one of several would do provided both partners put in the effort (perhaps [...]

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• Cult Contract Management

  Posted on March 11, 2006 by hudgeon in VendorManagement

  A thought exercise: What if a contract manager used the same techniques as a cult leader to deliver the contracted outcomes? A successful cult leader does the following: Creation story: Writes a creation story that explains how the cult started, defines it’s ultimate aim and identifies obstacles in its path. Creed: Lists the values that [...]

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