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category management

Future Purchasing on Category Management – Is It Rocket Science? (Part 2)

Peter Smith

- June 7, 2018 12:06 AM |

Categories: Procurement Commentary

In part 1 of this series we started looking at a very good article by Allison Ford-Langstaff on the Future Purchasing website. The firm is […]

Future Purchasing on Category Management – Is It Rocket Science?

Peter Smith

- June 6, 2018 12:06 AM |

Categories: Procurement Commentary

There’s a very good article on the Future Purchasing website from Allison Ford-Langstaff, who is one of the leaders at the consulting and training firm. […]

Workshop on June 14th – Develop Better and More Appropriate Category Approaches

Peter Smith

- May 31, 2018 7:31 AM |

Categories: Events, Procurement good practice

We very much hope you will consider attending our live event organised by Comensura and linked to our new briefing paper. The title is Understanding […]

Consultancy Procurement Council Summit – First Event Is A Success

Peter Smith

- May 22, 2018 4:30 AM |

Categories: Events

Last week we went along to the morning session of the Consultancy Procurement Council (CPC) Annual Summit. It is a peer-to-peer group that gets people […]

Make Sure Your Category Management is Flexible and Aligned – Paper and Workshop

Peter Smith

- May 17, 2018 4:30 AM |

Categories: Events

We are pleased to announce a live event organised by Comensura and linked to our new briefing paper, titled Understanding Culture and Stakeholders - Why […]

Redefining Procurement Models – A Next-Generation Operating Model

Nancy Clinton

- May 14, 2018 4:30 AM |

Categories: Procurement good practice

One of the ‘quick fire’ case study presentations at ProcureCon Indirect in Copenhagen last month, under the Redefining Procurement Models umbrella session, covered Next-Generation Operating Models. […]

Category Management – New Paper and Live Event on June 14th

Peter Smith

- May 9, 2018 4:31 AM |

Categories: Events

In our new briefing paper, sponsored by managed services provider Comensura, we look at some interesting issues around factors that category managers need to consider […]

Why Category Management Needs to be Aligned and Flexible – Our New Paper

Peter Smith

- April 24, 2018 12:10 AM |

Categories: Procurement good practice

We’re pleased to launch a new briefing paper we’ve developed in conjunction with our friends at Comensura, the leading “vendor neutral” services management company. It’s […]

Travel – Why It’s A Seriously Important Spend Category

Peter Smith

- November 29, 2017 12:04 AM |

Categories: Procurement good practice

Last week we ran a webinar with hotel booking platform Roomex. (You can access it here still if you missed it, free on registration). The […]

SAP Ariba on the Future of Procurement – Should We Fear the Robots?

Peter Smith

- November 14, 2017 12:16 AM |

Categories: Procurement Commentary

We mentioned in our Friday round-up the SAP Ariba "Future of Procurement” event at the impressive Royal College of Physicians in London last week. There […]

A.T. Kearney Report Puts Emphasis on Category Excellence

Peter Smith

- October 12, 2017 12:05 AM |

Categories: Procurement good practice

You can now get hold of A.T. Kearney’s 2017 Assessment of Excellence in Procurement. The firm has been conducting these assessments every three years or […]

Future Purchasing on the Benefits of Effective Category Management

Peter Smith

- September 21, 2017 12:18 AM |

Categories: Procurement good practice

We’ve featured the excellent Future Purchasing Category Management report here previously, titled "Collaborating for Category Management Success - Bridging the Performance and Value Gap". The […]

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Procurement Research

Spend Matters research is based on a year-long editorial calendar, exploring bigger picture areas and issues.

New! Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Your Spend Data (But Were Afraid To Ask)
In this briefing paper we take a look at how spend analytics, and smart and creative use of the source data, can help organisations answer some of those tricky, complex, or even embarrassing questions relating to procurement expenditure. We look at questions such as: How do I get to the bottom of tail spend? and How much corruption really goes on my organisation?

New! Geo-political Risk - An Informed Global View Is Essential
The fifth of our short papers outlining key supply chain risk areas looks at geo-political risks, which include war and revolution as well as labour disputes and the like. Clearly, this sort of risk event can be amongst the most serious in terms of implications for buyers.

New! "Man-Made" Risk - Different Risks Require Thoughtful Strategies
This is the fourth of our short papers outlining key supply chain risk areas. This examines "man-made" risks, a broad category that ranges from fires and explosions to strikes and labour disputes. All can have a serious impact for customers of the firms affected, so effective risk management is vital.

New! Natural Disasters – How to Mitigate Unavoidable Risks
This is the third in a series of short papers outlining the supply chain risks that can have the most devastating effects on your business. This paper examines the risk to suppliers (and ultimately the buyer) of a natural disaster - a risk type that is mostly unavoidable but one against which you can mitigate.

New! Corporate Image & Compliance at Risk: How to Mitigate the Hidden Risks Lurking in Your Supply Chain
This is the second in a series of short papers outlining the most important supply chain risks. In this paper we examine supplier reputational risk, the impact it can have on customers and ways in which to mitigate that risk.

New! The Most Effective Ways to Mitigate Supplier Financial Risk
This is the beginning of a series of short papers outlining the most important supply chain risks. In this first paper we look at supplier financial risk, the impact that can have on customers and ways to mitigate that risk.

New! Supply Chain Risk – Getting To Grips With n-Tier Visibility
In this briefing paper, we look at supply chain risk, and in particular the risks that emerge from beyond the first-tier (the direct suppliers to our organisation). We include ideas on how to gain greater visibility of the whole supply chain or network, and what to do once we have it.

New! The Merger – A Procurement Story
A short novel in four chapters. It follows and scripts the daily lives of two CPOs whose businesses have been recently merged: the one, a fully tech-savvy, source-to-pay function, the other, relying on personal expertise and hands-on manual processes. We learn of their opposing challenges and how they resolve them -- together.

Contingent Labour Review: Key Procurement Priorities (Part 2) - Tomorrow’s market and how to manage it
This is the second part of a paper that draws on the real issues faced today by procurement teams managing the growing area of contingent labour spend. It takes these challenges, explores what they might mean for the future of the market, and makes recommendations for procurement professionals to get most value out of their expenditure.

The “consumerisation” of corporate systems - Can business procurement technology learn from the consumer world?
What makes the best in consumer buying technology attractive and effective? This paper examines how procurement can ensure that corporate buying systems apply the best thinking from the consumer world, and why this will bring benefits for everyone.

Contingent Labour Review: Key Procurement Priorities (Part 1) — Setting the scene for change
This paper draws on the real issues faced today by procurement teams managing the growing area of contingent labour spend. It analyses market structures, maturity levels and makes recommendations for senior procurement executives.

Should Mid-Market Organisations Invest in eProcurement Systems? – The Key Questions Answered
This Q & A style paper looks at why the time is right for mid-sized firms to consider investing in purchase to pay technology, and answers the questions typically asked by CFOs and CPOs.

Improve Your Procurement Negotiation Skills
The work of behavioural psychologist and Nobel Prize winner Dr Daniel Kahneman suggests some winning techniques. How to use priming, attitudes to risk and anchoring to your advantage in negotiations!

Full Value Buying: Moving Beyond Price Negotiation
We look at range of procurement mechanisms that can drive better value, and then consider two aspects in more detail - demand management and specification - which can drive far greater benefits than a pure price focus!

What Defines Complex Sourcing – and Why Does It Matter?
In this briefing paper, we look at the factors that contribute towards making a sourcing process or task “complex” – and explain why that matters to procurement functions and people.

Case Study: Procurement in SNCF demonstrates its value to the organisation
In this case study, we take an honest, detailed look at how France's giant national rail network, SNCF, implemented Sievo's spend management solution.

Three Occasions When Procurement Should Spend More
In this paper we look at why cost reduction isn’t always the right strategy, we introduce the concept of a Value Category and solve an age-old procurement problem (with Maths)!

More Research

Decoupling Creative and Production Procurement – Handle with Care!
What are the key factors to consider when deciding how to structure marketing services supply chains? Read about the opportunities – and risks – here.

Centralise or Devolve Procurement – Why Not Both?
Find out how technology is enabling procurement to keep control of what matters, whilst devolving authority to local users and budget holders.

Managing Complex Categories; Beware the Complexity of Standardisation!
Standardisation is rightly a seen as a key tool to drive CatMan benefits – but it needs to be approached carefully, particularly for complex categories. We explain how to avoid the main traps.

Contract Management – Making the business case for investment (part 3)
In the final part of this series, we look at the risks that can be mitigated through effective contract management, and pull together final thoughts on the topic.

Also Available

Demonstrating Corporate Social Responsibility in the Marketing Services World

A Seat at the Top Table

Contract Management – Making the business case for investment (part 2)

Choosing the Right Tools – How Procurement Can Better Align with Both Trade and Brand Marketing’s Needs

Contract Management – Making the business case for investment

What Does Usability Really Mean? Making Software Selection Decisions and Getting Behind the Rhetoric

Putting the Supplier at the Heart of Procurement Thinking

Indirect Category Sourcing Savings: Fact or Fiction?

The Four Faces of Procurement

Is your Supplier Selection Process a Source of Competitive Disadvantage?

Balancing internal and external service provision – key decisions for procurement professionals