Private Equity and Procurement: Context and Introduction
At Sourcing Interest Group’s Spring Summit, Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe’s (WCAS) Jeff Gallant gave a fact-packed, fast-paced hour-long introduction to the world of private equity and procurement in a talk titled Procurement as critical resource: creating value through private equity portfolio management. I came away from the presentation with a strong appreciation for the opportunities of a relatively new position that is emerging for former CPOs and procurement leaders: serving as operating partners within the private equity world. However, the lessons that Jeff shared are not just relevant to those transitioning into the world of leveraged buyouts – they are [...]
[More...]Leveraging Memorial Day: How We Spend Our Precious Time
As we enter an extended U.S. holiday weekend to honor those whose lives were cut short in defense of their nation, we needn’t dwell upon the politics of war, but rather the value of life. Let’s also set aside the metaphysical and spiritual components and take a more strategic and quantitative approach to our life ROI – one that fits neatly with our daily business practice. One of my very close friends, Harry, and I get together about two times a month without a specific agenda over coffee, wine or a light meal. Our conversation typically segues from work and family [...]
[More...]Rubbing Alcohol Scotch, Venezuela Toilet Paper Shortage, Knives on Planes
Not the best happy hour: TGI Fridays in New Jersey are busted for selling caramel-colored rubbing al...
[More...]The Start of Summer: Soldier Field 10, G&Ts and Reverse Auctions
I’m running a 10-mile race tomorrow, hoping to dash to a personal best (“PR” among the racing ...
[More...]When You Find Yourself In a Software Hole, Stop Digging!
Bad software is rolled out all the time, perhaps because business clients have poorly defined use ca...
[More...]E-Sourcing: What’s Changed in the Past Five Years (Part 2)
In the first installment in this series, we talked a lot about the changing e-sourcing landscape ba...
[More...]P2P Channel Strategy Spaghetti: Pasta that Will Keep Your Company Lean!
Spend Matters welcomes a guest post from Michael Eckstut and Len Prokopets of Archstone Consulting. ...
[More...]Gartner’s Supply Chain Top 25, Big Gas Savings, Pet Spending
US retailers are reluctant to join in on international plans to improve safety and working condition...
[More...]BravoSolution’s Customer Event: Procurement Health and the Dangers of WebMD!
Bravo’s Mickey North Rizza facilitated a great discussion yesterday with the metaphor of “health...
[More...]BravoSolution’s Customer Event – Learning To Drive Fast
When people purchase anything but a boring econobox of a car – or the Prius, which is really just...
[More...]Analyze This! – Supplier Performance Management Based on Real Data
To drive change and improvements, it is critical that internal stakeholders and suppliers rally arou...
[More...]BravoSolution’s Customer Event — Touching Down
I touched down in New Orleans yesterday morning to attend the BravoSolution customer conference. I c...
[More...]25 Procurement Productivity Improvements You Can Make Right Now (Part 1)
In April 2013, Spend Matters conducted a research study (sponsored by Hubwoo) with ISM (The Institut...
[More...]Sourcing Validation as a Best Practice
Spend Matters welcomes another guest post from Jeff Muscarella of NPI, a spend management consultanc...
[More...]H7N9 Under Control, Apple to Build Factory in Texas, Best Buy Cuts Costs, Google’s Conversational Search
The H7N9 virus appears to be under control, according to UN experts. The epidemic has led to roughly...
[More...]Transactional Data Interchange: The Large/Small Company Disconnect
KPMG’s 2013 Global Manufacturing Outlook features a diagram that immediately caught my attention w...
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