Ask the Expert Content

Can reverse auctions — and e-procurement in general — sour a good supplier relationship? One of our readers wrote in with this question, worrying that reverse auctions may put pressure on supplier margins to such an extent that it is detrimental to the buyer-supplier relationship. In a reverse auction, suppliers compete for the buyer’s business by underbidding one another. This increased competition among the supply base ought to lead to lower prices for buyers, although it also runs the risk of undermining a supplier relationship that has taken time and effort to build. What’s the point of developing a strategic supplier relationship if you’re going to use an automated auctioning process anyway?

We kicked off Ask Spend Matters last July, and throughout the course of this past year, our readers — you! — have sent us dozens upon dozens of fascinating questions on topics ranging from big data to tail spend to group purchasing organizations to services procurement. Answering your questions has been both illuminating and fun, and we only hope that you have learned as much as we have. Today, we look back at the Ask Spend Matters articles that we published in the first half of this year. You asked about professional development needs, spend management vs. e-procurement, high-volume, low-dollar spend and more — and we answered.

Spend Matters Premium Content - Ask the Expert Video Replay
Spend Matters Chief Research Officer Pierre Mitchell leads this second Ask the Expert session through his findings from a joint survey between Spend Matters and the Institute for Supply Management on how well procurement and finance collaborate.

Spend Matters Premium Content - Ask the Expert Video Replay
Chief Research Officer Pierre Mitchell begins to analyze the results of a snap poll Spend Matters and the Institute for Supply Management conducted on the alignment (or lack thereof) of Finance and Procurement within a company. This is Part 1 of a 2-part Ask the Expert series on this study.

This Friday, April 17, Spend Matters Founder and Managing Director Jason Busch will join David Gustin, editor and co-founder of Trade Financing Matters, for The State of Trade Financing Technology, an Ask the Expert webinar, open to Plus and PRO members. The webinar, taking place at 10:30 a.m., will touch on a number of topics – you wont want to miss it.

Spend Matters Premium Content - Ask the Expert Video Replay
Spend Matters Vice President of Research Thomas Kase and Founder of Global Soap Project Derreck Kayongo join forces to discuss corporate social responsibility in this Ask the Expert session.

Can corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives ever be financially sound? Do they always require a steady inflow of new money to stay afloat? Join Spend Matters Vice President of Research Thomas Kase this Friday at 10:30 a.m. CST for our Ask The Expert webinar to see how this can be done in a financially sustainable way. All Plus and PRO Spend Matters members are welcome to sign up.

Spend Matters Premium Content - Ask the Expert Video Replay
Jason Busch hosts this session dedicated to discussing the next generation and services procurement and VMS technology coming down the pipeline. What should we expect from these technologies in the future? Tune in to find out.

Spend Matters Premium Content - Ask the Expert Video Replay
Jason Busch, Pierre Mitchell and Thomas Kase chime in about our next 5 procurement predictions for 2015 in Part 2 of this special Ask the Expert series. The 3 talk about predictions including engaging millennial workers, making use of big friendly data, understanding the direct side of procurement and more!

Throughout January and February, all of our Ask the Expert webinars will be exclusively focused on our collective 2015 Procurement Predictions, put together by the entire Spend Matters analyst team. Best of all? This series is open to ALL Plus/PRO members AND procurement practitioners. Jason Busch and Pierre Mitchell will be kicking off the series this Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015, from 10-10:30 a.m. Central, so don't miss it! Click here to register.

In this week's Ask the Expert webinar tomorrow, Dec. 12, 2014 from 11-11:30 a.m. CST, Spend Matters Plus/PRO members will be treated to a talk from Xavier Olivera of Spend Matters Mexico/Latin America. Xavier will guide you through the creation of an MRO category workbook to illustrate how rich this type of practice could be for any sourcing and knowledge management effort. Specifically, he'll walk through category scoping, opportunity assessments, how to profile internally and externally, how to develop a strategy, and finally, the role of supplier management in all this. Plus/PRO members, click through to register.

In this session, come hear from one of world's pre-eminent experts in PPM, our own Chief Research Officer Pierre Mitchell, to learn how the best procurement organizations use this capability not to track their lagging metrics of the past, but to look to the future, to stay aligned with stakeholders, to create an effective procurement operating model, and to elevate the supply management value proposition and transform functions beyond world class performance. Caveat: this week’s webinar will take a full 60 minutes. Double espresso recommended. Plus and PRO members, click on through to register.