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Latest News & Blog

Procurement Technology… What’s Real and What’s Just Hype

October 28, 2025|Blog

Procurement technology is exciting, full of promise, and creating a lot of buzz. But for procurement leaders trying to make sense of it all, the real challenge is knowing what’s worth investing in… and what’s just hype.In this blog, Jonathan…

DPW Amsterdam 2025 Wrap Up

October 22, 2025|News

The Positive Purchasing Team Returns From DPW Amsterdam 2025….Where AI Met Procurement’s Future We’re back from DPW Amsterdam 2025 with a shared sense of Procurement’s next steps. This year’s theme was all about putting AI to work, and it was impossible not…

Procurement Technology… Overcoming Challenges in Digital Transformation

September 30, 2025|Blog

Procurement technology is becoming a cornerstone of digital transformation in today’s digital-first business environment. Companies are pursuing tech and procurement transformation initiatives to streamline purchasing, reduce costs, and gain better visibility over their supply chains. However, rolling out new procurement…

Transforming Cocoa Supply Chains With Sustainability, Ethics, and Innovation

September 4, 2025|Blog

Sustainability and ethical sourcing are no longer optional in modern-day procurement, and for the cocoa industry, the need to transform supply chains is crucial. Despite chocolate’s beloved status worldwide, its supply chain hides systemic issues, from child labour on farms…

Your Guide to Smarter Category Management Software (And the Tools to Get You There)

July 28, 2025|Blog

Do you still rely on spreadsheets and guesswork to manage your category strategies? You are not alone. In today’s fast-moving procurement landscape, traditional approaches to category management are struggling to keep pace. Procurement professionals are contending with an increasing volume…

Webinar Recording…A Guide To Revolutionizing Procurement

June 5, 2025|Webinars

How Procurement Leaders Are Transforming Procurement In our latest webinar, our panellists discussed how procurement leaders are revolutionizing procurement and how we can redefine the future of ‘Procurement 3.0’. Right now, procurement is navigating mounting pressure to deliver value amid…

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Insights

Concession Trading in Negotiation…10 Surefire Winning Techniques

April 4, 2025|Insights

A good negotiator needs not just a repertoire of strategies, tactics and techniques but also the experience to know when and how to deploy them. One such strategy, the concession strategy, lies at the heart of every negotiation as it…

Assessing the Sustainability of Your Supply Base – Part 2 In-Person Assessment

June 11, 2024|Insights

Jonathan O’Brien, CEO of Positive Purchasing, author, and global procurement thought leader, outlines his effective approach to assessing the current levels of sustainability within your supply base, then prioritizing where and how to focus your resources to make the greatest…

Assessing the Sustainability of Your Supply Base – Part 1 Remote Assessment

March 18, 2024|Insights

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Whitepapers

Procurement Revolution – “Getting the Board on Board” – Navigating Procurement 2030 and Beyond

June 17, 2025| 4 MB

Written by Kathleen Harmeston – Business and Procurement Transformation Advisor, and Jonathan O’Brien – CEO of Positive Purchasing, this whitepaper explores procurement future trends and the evolving role of procurement in a volatile global business environment. It argues that Chief…

Functional ExtAInction Battle – Preparing for Procurement’s evolutionary struggle for survival

January 10, 2025| 6 MB

Written by Jonathan O’Brien – CEO of Positive Purchasing, and Guy Strafford – Executive Chairman of One Supply Planet, this Whitepaper argues that Procurement is facing an existential threat from AI, which is rapidly automating traditional back-office functions. As transactional…

Sustainable Procurement – The Starring Role for Procurement in the Drive for Sustainability

August 14, 2023| 2 MB

It has become evident that the drive for sustainability is crucial for preserving the future of our planet. However, how can we ensure that sustainable practices become the ‘norm’ in organizations world-wide? If you have just begun, or are planning…

Reimagining Procurement for the New Normal

December 17, 2020| 2 MB

This paper is a ‘must read’ for anyone trying to figure out how to adapt and prepare for the future of procurement in the new normal. COVID-19 has accelerated many of the changes already underway, compelling us to completely reimagine…

The Negotiation Rottweiler

June 17, 2019| 2 MB

In our latest Whitepaper, Jonathan O’Brien seeks to answer this ‘of the moment’ question as companies increasingly find their negotiation practices either ineffective or being called into question as unethical. He also explores why companies default to conflictual negotiation practice,…

The Power of Our Subconscious Mind

March 23, 2019| 423 KB

In our latest Whitepaper, Jonathan O’Brien explores how our subconscious can be our greatest ally in a negotiation but can also be our worst foe if we don’t learn to tap into it in the right way. He examines ways…

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The Procurement Show Podcast

Latest episode

Latest Episode

April 2026 | 42:15

Episode 67: Procurement is a Joke! – Lessons from a Comedy Writer About Why and How We Need to Be More Innovative

Innovation is the key to survival, but why are so many in the Procurement World so bad at it? Seeing as Jonathan and Paul are so funny, they decided to speak to someone that isn’t in the Procurement World … but is a comedy writer who also helps businesses rethink what they do in order to turn themselves around. He’s also the CEO and founder of Brilliant-Thinking.com and he’s Felix Riley!

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