We all know that managing your supply chain efficiently will save your company money and time, and reduce risk. But where can you start? If you are considering a realignment of ... More Info

Adapting to survive… why the fittest companies demand the evolution of procurement with SRM at its core. Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) is the trending topic of the moment in procurement circles, but what is driving this heightened interest? Jonathan O’Brien considers why we need SRM like never before and how we can make it happen. In today’s operating environment, companies need to better know and move ... More Info

Avoiding Bribery and Corruption in your Supply Chain. Dealing with suppliers could potentially put you at risk bribery and corruption. In much of Northern Europe, North America, Australia and Japan, such practices are rare and regarded as unacceptable (Global Corruption Barometer, 2013 – http://www.transparency.org/gcb2013). They could also be illegal. Elsewhere, it could just be how business is done and is simply ... More Info

10 tips for successIf we engage a supplier to work for us we have a contract with them, whether formalized or not. All we need to do is manage them to this contract and what we have agreed between us. Then, if they don’t perform, we have legal remedies open to us. Easy, right? In theory, contract management should be straightforward, yet it ... More Info

Why and how supply side CSR is something we must take seriously. Pick up an annual report and you are highly likely to read a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) statement setting out the company’s commitment to making the world a better place. Progressive organizations turn policy into action and can proudly demonstrate a range of initiatives that have achieved a successful social, environmental or ... More Info

A guide to help CPOs better demonstrate how their function adds value to the organization. It’s all about savings, savings, savings! Once upon a time such a statement would have rung true for most procurement functions. But times have changed. In a post-recession and ever more volatile, fast-changing and unpredictable world, the leading companies are organized so that procurement functions are focused on ... More Info

How to really do itIt’s difficult to read an article on innovation without seeing Apple mentioned somewhere. The common association of Apple with innovation is old news, but few stop to think about how this actually happened and the lessons that can be learned from this. Apple’s innovation wasn’t the sole outcome of a bunch of clever people working out of a lab in ... More Info

The third and final book in the strategic procurement trilogy by Positive Purchasing’s CEO, Jonathan O’Brien, is now available, published by Kogan Page.“Supplier Relationship Management” is Jonathan’s third book ... More Info