This document discusses balancing internal and external service provision for procurement professionals. It provides justifications for using third-party providers for some procurement activities rather than handling everything internally. Some key points include:
- Leveraging external expertise, addressing internal skills shortages, reducing costs through labor arbitrage, and focusing on core business are common justifications for using third parties.
- While full outsourcing of procurement is still limited, using third parties for elements of the procurement process like certain spend categories or transactional work is becoming more common.
- Supplier Information Management is highlighted as an area that can be effectively provided externally while contributing to procurement objectives. It discusses why SIM is important and the benefits organizations can realize
Procurement fraud, bribery, and corruption have moved beyond a perceived risk and become a real issue for many organizations. This paper highlights the need for organizations to put the necessary processes in place to protect against procurement fraud. It also serves as a warning that the absence of any visible instances of bribery, fraud, and corruption should be no cause for complacency as instances of successful perpetration may remain hidden for long periods of time.
The proposed wave approach makes use of a simple supplier profiling method that forms the basis of the entire supplier engagement strategy. Its effectiveness stems from the fact that it avoids the use of complicated data that is difficult to obtain and is often unreliable.
S2 p strategic opportunity-s2p-implementation-0113-1Dr Gordon Murray
Addressing S2P (Source-to-Pay) is necessary for organisations today in order to reduce transaction costs, but that alone is not enough to drive real cost reduction and bottom line profitability. To derive the maximum benefit, organisations need to seize the opportunity created by the disruption of a S2P implementation to radically transform the way in which procurement is carried out throughout the organisation. This paper provides suggestions on how to make the most of the opportunity created by S2P implementation and makes recommendations on how to maximise the benefits,
Penny wise procurement strategies-long-term-effectiveness-short-term-wins 1012-1Dr Gordon Murray
Discusses the concept of ‘short-term financial gains’
at the cost of ‘long-term sustainability’. The premise is that there is a need to avoid short-term procurement strategies during financial crises, which could compromise long-term success. The paper’s central theme is built around the popular management model Porter’s 5 Forces, and we correlate the theories in this model to the real world challenges of procurement and how they can provide a long-term cost efficient solution.
This ISG white paper, co-authored by a senior IT leader at Boeing, discusses how an effective sourcing strategy requires a comprehensive and regimented process to address business needs, ensuring that decisions to renegotiate, renew or rebid contracts in a multi-sourced environment are made for the right reasons.
Managing Uncertainty Report from Supply Management Insider & ERA Alan Birse
This survey, produced by Supply Management in conjunction with Expense Reduction Analysts, explores attitudes to Procurement within different organisations. It reviews how Procurement can help address businesses' profitability in a period of increasing uncertainty.
Management model for exploratory investment in IT WGroup
The ability to evaluate these new technologies in a practical environment where their technological value and impact on business and IT operations can be assessed is extremely important. Exploratory efforts should be structured and controlled similarly to other major projects and in addition should be evaluated for use in the production environment. In addition to evaluating the technical capabilities and practical application of the new technology, IT must evaluate the “fit” of the new technology in the existing service portfolio or catalog. In this article, WGroup has developed a new class of IT investment, referred to as “Exploratory,” along with a supporting management model to guide the effort through the evaluation phases and ensure a tight fit within the service catalog.
Procurement fraud, bribery, and corruption have moved beyond a perceived risk and become a real issue for many organizations. This paper highlights the need for organizations to put the necessary processes in place to protect against procurement fraud. It also serves as a warning that the absence of any visible instances of bribery, fraud, and corruption should be no cause for complacency as instances of successful perpetration may remain hidden for long periods of time.
The proposed wave approach makes use of a simple supplier profiling method that forms the basis of the entire supplier engagement strategy. Its effectiveness stems from the fact that it avoids the use of complicated data that is difficult to obtain and is often unreliable.
S2 p strategic opportunity-s2p-implementation-0113-1Dr Gordon Murray
Addressing S2P (Source-to-Pay) is necessary for organisations today in order to reduce transaction costs, but that alone is not enough to drive real cost reduction and bottom line profitability. To derive the maximum benefit, organisations need to seize the opportunity created by the disruption of a S2P implementation to radically transform the way in which procurement is carried out throughout the organisation. This paper provides suggestions on how to make the most of the opportunity created by S2P implementation and makes recommendations on how to maximise the benefits,
Penny wise procurement strategies-long-term-effectiveness-short-term-wins 1012-1Dr Gordon Murray
Discusses the concept of ‘short-term financial gains’
at the cost of ‘long-term sustainability’. The premise is that there is a need to avoid short-term procurement strategies during financial crises, which could compromise long-term success. The paper’s central theme is built around the popular management model Porter’s 5 Forces, and we correlate the theories in this model to the real world challenges of procurement and how they can provide a long-term cost efficient solution.
This ISG white paper, co-authored by a senior IT leader at Boeing, discusses how an effective sourcing strategy requires a comprehensive and regimented process to address business needs, ensuring that decisions to renegotiate, renew or rebid contracts in a multi-sourced environment are made for the right reasons.
Managing Uncertainty Report from Supply Management Insider & ERA Alan Birse
This survey, produced by Supply Management in conjunction with Expense Reduction Analysts, explores attitudes to Procurement within different organisations. It reviews how Procurement can help address businesses' profitability in a period of increasing uncertainty.
Management model for exploratory investment in IT WGroup
The ability to evaluate these new technologies in a practical environment where their technological value and impact on business and IT operations can be assessed is extremely important. Exploratory efforts should be structured and controlled similarly to other major projects and in addition should be evaluated for use in the production environment. In addition to evaluating the technical capabilities and practical application of the new technology, IT must evaluate the “fit” of the new technology in the existing service portfolio or catalog. In this article, WGroup has developed a new class of IT investment, referred to as “Exploratory,” along with a supporting management model to guide the effort through the evaluation phases and ensure a tight fit within the service catalog.
Next generation IT outsourcing and the global enterprise model (GEM)WGroup
Disruptive technologies such as cloud computing and the “as-a-service” model for software, infrastructure and platforms have led to fundamental changes in how IT services are organized, managed and delivered—whether they are outsourced, insourced or a combination. The reality that IT services can be delivered to anywhere on the globe via the “Cloud” has accelerated the commoditization of IT. Ubiquitous access to IT services has lessened business units’ dependency on internal IT and shifted the IT organization’s prime role from process excellence to technology and service innovation. This article discusses through WGroup's perspective how outsourcing can create value through changing the way business is done.
Supplier Relationship Management Srm Research 2010 2011salleijn
This fifth SRM Survey marks Capgemini Consulting’s continued efforts to understand the trends and issues affecting organizations when implementing a SRM solution and provides insights for executives on issues and trends across the Procurement profession. Capgemini Consulting has surveyed 100 SRM vendors over the last five years, with this edition surveying twenty vendors with a global geographical scope and worldwide implementations. These vendors represent a broad range of applications that provide full coverage for all sub-processes to niche players supporting only a selected functionality
A full copy of the report can be downloaded from:
http://www.capgemini.com/insights-and-resources/by-publication/supplier-relationship-management-srm-research-20102011/
Changing Landscape of Information TechnologyAbhinav Mishra
We are starting to witness signs of recovery from the recession
over the past few months. As the world looks at growth
opportunities, as with all cataclysmic events, there is a
realization that the past twenty four months have irrevocably
changed business operations.
Changes that started with the spurt in oil prices have been
aggravated by the recession. Businesses globally have
witnessed discretionary spends disappear, projects put on
indefinite hold and order-to-cash cycles stretched. In an effort to
improve their financial situation, many businesses have closely
reviewed operations and industry best practices. Our research
shows that companies are looking towards technology and
outsourcing to reduce costs, increase operating efficiencies and
improve customer satisfaction.
Not knowing your costs is an expense you can’t afford.
Your Challenge
While IT departments provide valuable services to their organizations, it is frequently unclear how much these services cost. CIOs often find themselves in a position where they cannot articulate exactly how much it costs to deliver a given service in order to justify the service’s value.
Our Advice
Critical Insight
IT capital and operational costs are captured in accounting ledgers using financial constructs that lend themselves well to financial reporting, but obscure the true cost to deliver each IT service.
Translating accounting ledgers to IT service costs is a difficult process that may sometimes appear arbitrary.
The data required for detailed service-based costing is often unavailable.
Service-based costing is not for everyone. It requires clearly defined goals and commitment to be successful.
You don’t have to be perfect to gain value from service-based costing. Imperfect analysis can still point you in the right direction for improvement.
Nobody trusts a “black box.” Be transparent with results.
Impact and Result
Use a method of determining the full cost of services that provides a reasonable level of accuracy without overburdening staff with excessive analysis and investigation.
Optimize the balance between analytical effort and accuracy of service costing by understanding your service cost accuracy needs and matching them to an appropriate level of service-based costing capability.
Develop the right level of service-based costing capability by applying the methods in this blueprint.
Need more insights? An On-Demand Webinar on the topic “Branding Procurement” can be accessed here: http://zyc.us/2GmSwSA
Branding Procurement
As someone who has been in the supply world for more years than I would care to admit, the old Rodney Dangerfield lament about getting no respect was second only to the "we want a seat at the table" refrain.
While the profession as a whole had made some advancements beyond the days when CFOs considered our enterprise contributions to be either minimal or non-existent, it is still safe to say that we procurement professionals have not properly branded ourselves and the value we bring to our organizations.
"Some executives used to think of procurement as the place you send staff away in order to never see them again." - Leading Procurement Strategy, Carlos Mena, Remko van Hoek, Martin Christopher
In this presentation, (sponsored by Zycus), have a look at where procurement as a profession was, where are they today, and what they have to do to realize their full potential in the future.
The Negotiation Process Four Stages {Lecture Notes}FellowBuddy.com
FellowBuddy.com is an innovative platform that brings students together to share notes, exam papers, study guides, project reports and presentation for upcoming exams.
We connect Students who have an understanding of course material with Students who need help.
Benefits:-
# Students can catch up on notes they missed because of an absence.
# Underachievers can find peer developed notes that break down lecture and study material in a way that they can understand
# Students can earn better grades, save time and study effectively
Our Vision & Mission – Simplifying Students Life
Our Belief – “The great breakthrough in your life comes when you realize it, that you can learn anything you need to learn; to accomplish any goal that you have set for yourself. This means there are no limits on what you can be, have or do.”
Like Us - https://www.facebook.com/FellowBuddycom
Next generation IT outsourcing and the global enterprise model (GEM)WGroup
Disruptive technologies such as cloud computing and the “as-a-service” model for software, infrastructure and platforms have led to fundamental changes in how IT services are organized, managed and delivered—whether they are outsourced, insourced or a combination. The reality that IT services can be delivered to anywhere on the globe via the “Cloud” has accelerated the commoditization of IT. Ubiquitous access to IT services has lessened business units’ dependency on internal IT and shifted the IT organization’s prime role from process excellence to technology and service innovation. This article discusses through WGroup's perspective how outsourcing can create value through changing the way business is done.
Supplier Relationship Management Srm Research 2010 2011salleijn
This fifth SRM Survey marks Capgemini Consulting’s continued efforts to understand the trends and issues affecting organizations when implementing a SRM solution and provides insights for executives on issues and trends across the Procurement profession. Capgemini Consulting has surveyed 100 SRM vendors over the last five years, with this edition surveying twenty vendors with a global geographical scope and worldwide implementations. These vendors represent a broad range of applications that provide full coverage for all sub-processes to niche players supporting only a selected functionality
A full copy of the report can be downloaded from:
http://www.capgemini.com/insights-and-resources/by-publication/supplier-relationship-management-srm-research-20102011/
Changing Landscape of Information TechnologyAbhinav Mishra
We are starting to witness signs of recovery from the recession
over the past few months. As the world looks at growth
opportunities, as with all cataclysmic events, there is a
realization that the past twenty four months have irrevocably
changed business operations.
Changes that started with the spurt in oil prices have been
aggravated by the recession. Businesses globally have
witnessed discretionary spends disappear, projects put on
indefinite hold and order-to-cash cycles stretched. In an effort to
improve their financial situation, many businesses have closely
reviewed operations and industry best practices. Our research
shows that companies are looking towards technology and
outsourcing to reduce costs, increase operating efficiencies and
improve customer satisfaction.
Not knowing your costs is an expense you can’t afford.
Your Challenge
While IT departments provide valuable services to their organizations, it is frequently unclear how much these services cost. CIOs often find themselves in a position where they cannot articulate exactly how much it costs to deliver a given service in order to justify the service’s value.
Our Advice
Critical Insight
IT capital and operational costs are captured in accounting ledgers using financial constructs that lend themselves well to financial reporting, but obscure the true cost to deliver each IT service.
Translating accounting ledgers to IT service costs is a difficult process that may sometimes appear arbitrary.
The data required for detailed service-based costing is often unavailable.
Service-based costing is not for everyone. It requires clearly defined goals and commitment to be successful.
You don’t have to be perfect to gain value from service-based costing. Imperfect analysis can still point you in the right direction for improvement.
Nobody trusts a “black box.” Be transparent with results.
Impact and Result
Use a method of determining the full cost of services that provides a reasonable level of accuracy without overburdening staff with excessive analysis and investigation.
Optimize the balance between analytical effort and accuracy of service costing by understanding your service cost accuracy needs and matching them to an appropriate level of service-based costing capability.
Develop the right level of service-based costing capability by applying the methods in this blueprint.
Need more insights? An On-Demand Webinar on the topic “Branding Procurement” can be accessed here: http://zyc.us/2GmSwSA
Branding Procurement
As someone who has been in the supply world for more years than I would care to admit, the old Rodney Dangerfield lament about getting no respect was second only to the "we want a seat at the table" refrain.
While the profession as a whole had made some advancements beyond the days when CFOs considered our enterprise contributions to be either minimal or non-existent, it is still safe to say that we procurement professionals have not properly branded ourselves and the value we bring to our organizations.
"Some executives used to think of procurement as the place you send staff away in order to never see them again." - Leading Procurement Strategy, Carlos Mena, Remko van Hoek, Martin Christopher
In this presentation, (sponsored by Zycus), have a look at where procurement as a profession was, where are they today, and what they have to do to realize their full potential in the future.
The Negotiation Process Four Stages {Lecture Notes}FellowBuddy.com
FellowBuddy.com is an innovative platform that brings students together to share notes, exam papers, study guides, project reports and presentation for upcoming exams.
We connect Students who have an understanding of course material with Students who need help.
Benefits:-
# Students can catch up on notes they missed because of an absence.
# Underachievers can find peer developed notes that break down lecture and study material in a way that they can understand
# Students can earn better grades, save time and study effectively
Our Vision & Mission – Simplifying Students Life
Our Belief – “The great breakthrough in your life comes when you realize it, that you can learn anything you need to learn; to accomplish any goal that you have set for yourself. This means there are no limits on what you can be, have or do.”
Like Us - https://www.facebook.com/FellowBuddycom
This ISG white paper assesses recent trends in the mid-tier sourcing marketplace, and basic considerations faced by buyer organizations with
differing levels of outsourcing experience. Risks and opportunities are discussed, and potential sourcing strategy options and key success factors
are outlined.
This paper provides lessons on how leaders can enable procurement change within their organization. It identifies seven key obstacles that tend to arise within the firm, and provides suggestions and examples on how these can be tackled.
“Industrialization” of sourcing and procurement operationsGenpact Ltd
The sourcing and procurement function is increasingly mandated to contribute to the growth and agility necessary in these volatile and uncertain times. Its current operating models are, however, seldom able to deliver on these expectations—often lacking enough resources to tackle at scale emerging challenges, such as analyzing global and fragmented supply chain risks, as well as enabling frequent changes of company “perimeter” brought on by geographic expansion, M&A, and so on.
Today’s most forward-thinking IT leaders view outsourcing not as a cost reduction tactic but rather as a strategic vehicle and catalyst for transforming the organization into a digital business. They have learned that taking an approach that drives alignment with business requirements, transforms the state of IT, and changes the “work” that is being done not only produces better service levels but also delivers exponentially greater cost savings. In this new white paper, "IT Outsourcing Is Not About Cost Savings", The Outsourcing Institute and WGroup have teamed up to provide guidance to help you rethink IT outsourcing and how you can deliver increased shareholder value.
Helps in elimnating outsourcing failures that result from companies rushing into transactions with unrealistic or unsubstantiated perceptions of cost savings and performance improvements. There are certain common myths that vendors and clients cling to about offshore outsourcing – false assumptions about how the process should work.
Outsourcing is not a new phenomenon, as many believe.Basically, outsourcing is simply the farming out of services to a
third party.
“There are as many definitions of outsourcing as there are ways to screw it up,” says Stephanie Overby, Senior Editor CIO Magazine.
Across the corporate landscape IT functions are completing their transformation to a service-orientation. Slowly but surely, “governance” has become a core mission, if not yet the core competency, of the IT organization. Governance involves many fronts and addresses many levels – there is architectural governance, IT finance and projects governance, and of course, supplier governance. All call for new skills and new structures. WGroup collectively brings decades of hands-on experience in IT supplier management to assist our clients with the multi-supplier challenge – from building the governance structures to defining sourcing strategies to facilitating contract reviews to transition management. This states how WGroup would implement a multi-supplier governance model successfully.
Agility and flexibility will be key success factors for future IT. Meeting the need for flexible delivery in an outsourced environment requires new thinking and innovative methods as traditional sourcing models are seen as too rigid and transaction oriented. This white paper explores the nature of agility and outlines methods for each step in the outsourcing process to ensure a successful and agile IT delivery.
Successful Processes for Selecting a Content Management System: How to Become...Scott Abel
Presented at DocTrain East 2007 by Mary Laplante and Geoff Bock, The Gilbane Group -- A critical skill set for any content management professional relates to the successful acquisition of technology that solves business problems. If your currentor futureחresponsibilities include identifying the right solutions for your company or client, this is a dont-miss session for you.
A content management solution that delivers business value starts with choosing the right technology. Even with consolidation, the CMS market continues to grow, presenting buyers with an overwhelming number of options from which to choose. Mary Laplante and a panel of senior content management analysts and consultants provide you with insight and advice on acquisition processes that will help you map a path to success, set mile markers to guide your way, and reach your goal of choosing the right content technologies for your organization.
Topics to be covered include:
* Making the business case for investment in content technologies: cost savings PLUS revenues equal the big picture for executives.
* Distilling the key requirements: how to focus the technology investigation and avoid distraction.
* Developing an acquisition strategy: tools such as RFIs, RFPs, vendor-supported discovery processes, benchmarking peer organizations, conference-room pilots, and proof-of-concepts can help or hinder your acquisition process.
* Funneling vendors from short list to partner: what you need to know about the last mile to vendor-of-choice.
* Understanding technology delivery options: how software-as-service offers should be evaluated in the technology acquisition process.
DocTrain attendees will have a unique opportunity to shape the content delivered in the session. Prior to DocTrain East, the session moderator and panelists will host discussions and surveys related to technology acquisition processes on http://cmprofessionals.org and http://gilbane.com. You will have a chance to pose your questions in advance and to participate in surveys on key challenges you face in bringing content technologies into the enterprise.
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Key decisions for procurement professionals: How to balance internal and external service provision
1. key decisions for procurement professionals
How to balance internal and
external service provision
Peter Smith
Managing Editor Spend Matters UK/Europe
February 2012
services for professional procurement
www.achilles.com
2. Balancing internal and external service provision –
key decisions for procurement professionals
A Spend Matters White Paper sponsored by Achilles
Executive summary
Spend Matters observes trends in procurement
carefully, and there is no doubt that the pace of
change facing senior management is increasing given
globalisation, supply chain risks and challenges, and
the pressures on organisations to perform. This paper
contains important messages, bringing together our
thinking in two key areas with important implications for
senior procurement practitioners.
1. One of THE most important roles for 2. Supplier Information Management is a powerful
Procurement Leaders (CPOs and similar) today example of a capability that can be provided
is to optimise the use of resources from both effectively from outside the organisation, yet
inside and outside the organisation, blending contribute greatly to successful delivery of
them successfully to achieve their goals. procurement objectives for the in-house team.
2
3. How to balance internal and external service provision
– key decisions for procurement professionals
A Spend Matters White Paper sponsored by Achilles
In the first section of the paper, we explain: ‘candidate’ for external service provision, with
ƒƒ How and why procurement executives need to significant benefits available to organisations
become adept at using third parties to deliver who follow this route.
some of the tasks necessary for the function’s Part 1 Balancing internal and external
success. procurement delivery
ƒƒ The various reasons and justifications for using 1. Introduction
third parties, such as economies of scale, If we go back 30 years or so, to the beginning of
expertise and leverage. the author’s business career, virtually everything
ƒƒ How CPOs can evaluate and prioritise the use of that was done by a procurement function or
third parties for procurement services provision department was carried out by the internal staff
to steer them towards the right ‘blended’ employed by the organisation. There was little
solution. in the way of computerisation; management
While large-scale end-to-end outsourcing of consultants were still a fairly exotic breed; and while
procurement has not spread in the way many there were other professional service providers in
analysts predicted ten years ago, there are, certain business areas already well established
nevertheless, many opportunities for organisations (such as consumer market research firms), there
to engage third party providers to supply elements was little of that nature in the procurement space.
of the overall procurement process – it doesn’t But gradually this has changed. There are now a
have to be all or nothing. There has been a visible wide range of providers all positioned to assist the
growth in the number of organisations using procurement executive achieve his or her aims.
external providers for certain spend categories; However, in recent years, some commentators
or elements of their more transactional P2P have suffered from over-excitement about
processing work; or indeed valuable specialist trends, and proclaimed that full procurement
elements of the overall process such as Supplier outsourcing was ‘about to take off’. The reasons
Information Management, which is discussed here given by analysts for this statement have always
later. The opportunity to integrate internal and seemed convincing; economies of scale, allowing
external service provision is considerable and is organisations to focus on core business, and
likely to lead to significant benefits compared to a others. But stubbornly, year after year, the
service delivered purely with internal resources. procurement ‘business process outsourcing’
In our second section, we look in more detail (BPO) market grows very slowly. As AT Kearney
at Supplier Information Management (SIM), an said in their ‘Procurement Outsourcing1’ note,
umbrella term embracing the collection, evaluation “Despite a substantial growth in outsourcing in the
and monitoring of all information on suppliers past several years, procurement outsourcing is
and contractors including risk evaluation, vendor less than two percent of all outsourcing activities”.
appraisal and performance management. That’s not to say that firms ranging from Infosys to
We explain; Xchanging, IBM to ICG Commerce haven’t made
some progress and picked up some good clients
ƒƒ Why SIM is increasingly important to
along the way. But the market certainly hasn’t
organisations, given the need to manage
developed in the way that, for instance, IT or Payroll
suppliers more professionally and mitigate the
services outsourcing have done.
ever-increasing volume and scale of risks in
global supply chains; However, it is our hypothesis that procurement
has actually taken a more subtle route to greater
ƒƒ The role of SIM in both the transactional and
utilisation of third party service providers to
strategic sourcing cycles; and
support its own activities. Leading procurement
ƒƒ Why SIM is often a strong and positive practitioners are taking much more advantage
3 1. http://www.atkearney.com//index.php/Publications/
procurement-outsourcing.html
4. of external service provision than a decade ago; Leverage expertise, address shortage of
but it has not been the full outsource route that internal skills
has generally been chosen. Rather, they have Organisations may suffer from a lack of particular
looked carefully at which elements of the overall expertise in certain areas, whether that means
procurement process and set of responsibilities specific spend categories or other areas; perhaps
make most sense to acquire externally, rather than technical skills relating to technology, or skills in
deliver internally. finance, and market analysis etc. It may be that
One reason for this may be the understandable the issue is driven by local skill shortages; or more
reluctance of procurement professionals to hand often it is not economic for an organisation to pay
over their entire commercial sovereignty to an what is needed to get true experts in all the internal
external provider, with the perceived danger of roles.
losing control of strategic supplier relationships.
However, they see no such threat in buying
Reduce internal costs (labour arbitrage)
external information or tools to support elements
If this last example is about getting more capability
of their overall activity and process, where external
for the same price, in this case we are looking
provision can add value without major risk.
at finding cheaper resource to deliver perhaps
a similar level of performance. Offshoring to
2. Why use third parties? lower-cost countries is the classic example here;
Let’s go back a step and look at why organisations originally we saw this in what were perceived as
might use an external service provider for some of activities of a lower added value nature, such as
their procurement activity, rather than delivering it P2P processing, catalogue management. But
internally. These are the key drivers that tend to be increasingly this may include more skilled work
used in justifications and business cases for taking including sourcing or technology development.
that step.
Leverage volume / collaborate
Approaching the market with a greater volume of
spend will, all other things being equal, enable
better value to be obtained. So transferring
responsibility for the actual procurement of certain
spend categories to a provider who can aggregate
volume from a number of clients – and perhaps
include their own internal spend in the total – may
enable all those customers to benefit from better
results than they could obtain as individuals. But
this driver is not merely about leveraging spending
for lower prices. As well as outsourcing actual
direct ‘buying’, there are other activities, as we
will see later, that it may be uneconomic for an
organisation to perform individually, but become
affordable when executed in collaboration with
others.
4
5. How to balance internal and external service provision
– key decisions for procurement professionals
A Spend Matters White Paper sponsored by Achilles
Sort out broken processes or outsourcing all indirect spend categories. But
Perhaps a less common driver for outsourcing is at the less dramatic end of the range, we can
as a response to ‘broken processes’ internally. consider external provision of much smaller
While most experts will advise organisations to fix elements of the overall procurement task.
processes before outsourcing, and this is good This is not generally termed “outsourcing”,
theoretical advice, in some cases the organisation although it shares some of the same
may simply not have the time, ability or resource to characteristics. And it is not about transferring core
do this. In such cases, the outsourcing may enable responsibility out of the organisation; it is about
benefits to be gained through the provider’s ability gaining additional expertise and resource from
to do the work better and pass on some of the outside to support the key functional activities.
benefits. The bottom line, according to Horses for
The type of activities and responsibilities that
Sources2, is that organisations, tend to outsource
organisations might look to obtain from external
processes that probably aren’t very well run in the
providers are described in the next section. But
first place.
their range, importance and the opportunity they
provide for improving procurement performance is
Focus on core business very significant; a fact that many organisations and
Organisations may decide that certain activities leaders have not, in our opinion, fully appreciated.
are distractions to their ‘core business’. While this As a consequence, we’ve come to this view.
is often linked to the lack of skills described above,
it may be independent to that and be a judgement One of the most important roles for Procurement
that passing responsibility to an external body will Leaders (CPOs and similar) today is to source,
free up management time and focus to concentrate manage, combine and blend capabilities and
on whatever is defined as “core”. resources successfully, from inside and outside
the organisation, to achieve their goals.
3. The growth of procurement service
providers 4. Prioritising the options for third-party
The typical procurement function in a large provision
organisation will almost certainly have many more So if this is a key role, how should a procurement
activities performed by third parties than there were executive determine what can most productively
ten years ago. There will be technology platforms be delivered by third parties? We recommend a
in use, probably with external support or consulting structured analysis of the range of options available
around their use and every chance there will be across the whole procurement landscape; but in
some consultancy involvement somewhere around our experience, very few organisations carry out
the function; research, benchmarking, networking this sort of consideration. Decisions are made
or information service providers will feature. on an ad hoc basis, or those driven by a crisis or
There are now many options and opportunities perceived crisis in a particular area. It is clearly
within the overall procurement process to consider better not to wait until events dictate hasty action,
third-party delivery of services that contribute to so we recommend strongly a pro-active approach
overall procurement effectiveness. At one extreme to evaluating the options and structuring the best
there is full BPO type outsourcing; perhaps mix of provision.
moving all P2P activities to an external provider;
5 2. Horses for Sources. The undisputed facts about outsourcing.
May 2011
6. Stage 1
The first step is to identify work currently information, or data that may form part of the
undertaken and develop a map of the processes qualification and supplier selection process – it is
and activities undertaken by the procurement also an intrinsic part of that process.
(and related) functions. This does not need to be Similar analysis might cover support areas within
broken down into every detailed step, but should procurement, or the human resources aspects;
be considered at a level that relates to how the do we want to manage recruitment and training
market might offer to provide such services. internally or use external experts for instance. But
For example, consider the P2P (purchase to the key is to identify a range of options in the first
pay) process. As well as the option to use a place.
fully outsourced end-to-end service, there are
options at every stage in terms of either carrying
out the activity internally or sourcing from external Stage 2
providers. Having identified the potential activities that could
be sourced from third parties, the next step is to
ƒƒ Supplier registration / enablement
assess which would show the greatest benefits if
ƒƒ Supplier information, verification and master that step were taken.
data management
Here are the main issues to be covered in such
ƒƒ Developing and maintaining supplier and / or analysis.
internal catalogues
ƒƒ How strong is the current internal capability in
ƒƒ Processing requisitions and purchase orders that activity?
ƒƒ Invoice handling and management of payables ƒƒ Is there potential for improving capability if it is
ƒƒ Spend reporting and analytics not currently meeting needs?
Within the strategic sourcing cycle, we have ƒƒ How well-developed and capable is the market
the obvious option of outsourcing the entire for external provision of that service?
responsibility for some or all categories. But there ƒƒ Are there clear benefits (direct cost saving or
are also many potential sub-sets of the whole clear impact on procurement performance) from
process which can be provided by third parties: for external provision because of the provider’s
instance, capability or the effect of aggregation?
ƒƒ Market and supplier research ƒƒ Will we give up the chance of gaining
ƒƒ Pre-qualification process competitive advantage if we source externally?
ƒƒ Auction / complex sourcing processes (e.g. ƒƒ What are the practical issues around moving to
optimisation) external provision – cost, effect on staff (TUPE
ƒƒ Elements of post-contract supplier management etc)?
(e.g. audits or benchmarking) Applying these key questions to the range of
Some activities fall under both the P2P and potential services can help to determine where
strategic sourcing headings; Supplier Information the maximum benefit may be available, and help
Management is one of those, which we will to clarify the nature of those benefits, as in the
consider more fully in part 2 of this Paper. It example below, (which shows just two potential
feeds both the transactional process, being a key areas of external provision).
element of the supplier registration / enablement This type of analysis can be applied in a structured
part of the cycle. But in terms of providing input manner across the range of potential service areas
that can be considered as part of the strategic and can help determine where the external market
sourcing cycle – for instance, risk related may bring the most value.
6
7. How to balance internal and external service provision
– key decisions for procurement professionals
A Spend Matters White Paper sponsored by Achilles
Outsource area Positives Negatives Conclusion
End-to-end category Outsourcer has Give up chance to Possibly worth
management for greater capability in derive competitive pursuing for some
‘tactical’ spend these categories advantage from these categories – move to
categories categories market testing phase
Can aggregate with with a view to a pilot
other client volume to Outsourcer needs
get better value managing – careful
alignment of goals
Lower operational
cost (shared resource
with other clients)
Supplier Information Better quality of Payment to Highly beneficial from
Management information if a outsourced provider a cost and quality
specialist is used by buyer or suppliers point of view; few
downsides. (n.b.
More up-to-date, Lack of direct control Forrester3 report
accurate broader identified 41% savings
range of data in pre-qualification
Resistance from
costs plus other
suppliers to providing
benefits)
Lower cost; in-house data to third parties
option can be very
expensive
Take advantage of
better IT systems than
likely to be available
internally
Support for suppliers
completing the
process
3rd party validation of
data adds credibility
Potential for global
visibility of its supplier
ecosystem
7 3. The Total Economic Impact of Achilles Supplier Information
Management Solution, Forrester Inc, August 2011
8. Part 2 Supplier Information Many organisations will hold some data on the
Management top 100 or so key suppliers, and a small amount
5. What is Supplier Information Management? of data will be held on all suppliers (at least
Supplier Information Management embraces the enough to facilitate payment of invoices) but very
collection, evaluation and monitoring of information rarely is information consistent, up-to-date and
on suppliers and contractors including factual comprehensive. Moreover, supplier information
company information, risk evaluation, vendor is often distributed in different parts of the
appraisal and performance management. organisation, at corporate, divisional or operational
level and, all too frequently, is housed in multiple
Supplier information management marries
systems in silos that are not always connected. Not
three sources to create a universe of supplier
to mention the different information requirements of
information.
different departments, regional locations.
ƒƒ The supplier’s view of themselves (e.g. who
Aberdeen Research4 recently suggested that
they are, who owns them, size, capabilities and
‘due to multiple systems, supplier information is
qualification).
often prevented from providing a holistic picture
ƒƒ Third party or objective information about of a supplier due to lack of a unified supplier
supplier certifications, accreditation, financial management process.’ The survey reported
or other data (e.g. reports and accounts, that 50% of respondents were found to be using
insurances, references and other objective between two to three systems that contain supplier
qualification). information.
ƒƒ Information from the buying organisation (e.g. Why is it so difficult to get this right? Largely
spend, performance, bid history). because gathering and managing data is a labour
intensive and time-consuming activity. Information
changes, grows or becomes out-of-date
constantly, so work needs to be continuous and
ongoing. While tools to help automate the process
have become much more useful and more widely
adopted, there is still a certain amount of laborious
work which cannot be fully automated and needs
to be carried out in order to refine and verify data.
To be positive, the good news is that there are
tools and technology available now that can
help organisations obtain and manage good
quality data to help mitigate these risks. Yet our
experience is that senior managers in most cases
assume their organisation holds more and better
data about suppliers than is actually the case. That
is true even for basic administrative details, and
even more so for complex, variable or time-related
information.
4. Aberdeen Group. The year of the supplier, perspectives on 8
supplier management in 2011. May 2011
9. How to balance internal and external service provision
– key decisions for procurement professionals
A Spend Matters White Paper sponsored by Achilles
6. Why does Supplier Information ƒƒ Supply chains are longer and more fragile, and
Management matter? vulnerable to events such as natural disasters
In a recent research report, Jason Busch of ƒƒ Supplier financial viability, and related
Spend Matters US5 described the challenges that operational viability, due to weakening balance
customers want to solve with Supplier Information sheets, failures amongst their customers etc.
Management.
ƒƒ Supplier quality and performance risk including
ƒƒ How can I bring more suppliers onboard, more traceability of components or raw materials
quickly without increasing risk or the potential
ƒƒ Greater regulatory and legal risk e.g., the Bribery
for non-compliance?
Act
ƒƒ Can I build a single platform to monitor
ƒƒ More pressure from investors and a desire for
my supplier facing interactions just as the
stronger corporate governance
commercial organisation can on the sales and
customer service side of the house? ƒƒ Growing “corporate social responsibility”
agenda highlights operational and reputational
ƒƒ How can I rapidly gain a common view into
risk in the supply chain
supplier information to rapidly take action
to identify and implement cost reduction But it isn’t just about risk management, important
opportunities for my supply base? though that is. Enforcing organisational policies
and standards includes elements of risk
ƒƒ What are the best ways of creating auditable
management as we described above. But it goes
trails of correspondence and information
beyond that in making sure we obtain consistency
capture with suppliers in the event that we need
and (where it is important) control including that
to later rely on this information?
single view of supplier information and data across
ƒƒ Are there ways that we can reduce costs the whole organisation.
and errors by automating traditional vendor
Robust and accurate supplier information also
management roles and supplier interactions?
enables and assists us to determine the best
ƒƒ How can we systematically reduce our risk and suppliers to meet our needs, making sure their
exposure to the supplier financial and credit capabilities fit the requirements of the buying
crisis? How do we know when to take proactive organisation. That in turn leads to commercial
action? With what group of suppliers? advantage – after all, choosing the best suppliers
Assuming that this sort of information management is probably the single most important role of
platform can be achieved, what does it allow the the procurement function in terms of creating
buyer to do? It informs the whole procurement competitive advantage.
cycle, from choosing the best possible suppliers, Finally, a process for delivering good Supplier
evaluating and managing risk, enforcing global Information Management increases internal
policies and standards, and enabling insightful efficiency considerably. Aspects such as
spend analytics. Even focusing purely on supply minimising the time that is spent on searching for
chain risk management, we have seen a huge information, checking, inputting and updating it,
growth in the emphasis on this topic recently, answering supplier queries, carrying out checks
which is not surprising when we look at some of on accreditations; all of this can be very time
the key issues facing buyers. consuming, and therefore expensive.
5. Spend Matters Compass Series: Leveraging Supplier
9 Management Platforms for Multiple Goals: Risk Reduction,
Supplier Diversity and CSR. 2010, Volume 4
10. Getting accurate and robust information, right first
time, can reduce direct costs considerably for the
organisation
7. Key elements of a Supplier Information 8. Supplier Information Management as a
Management resource strong candidate for external provision
So what should we be looking for in a SIM We’ve discussed the state of Supplier Information
solution? In the research series mentioned above, Management in organisations and our view that in
Jason Busch also outlined the key elements that many cases, it is not as good as it should be. So
a SIM solution should have in terms of underlying when organisations look at utilising external service
capabilities and features6: provision, it may not be an “outsourcing” exercise
... all Supplier Information Management solutions anyway – that assumes something is being done
should have the following underlying capabilities internally already, which, as we’ve seen, is often
and component features: not the case. But whether or not there is anything
internal to outsource in the first place, we can use
ƒƒ Supplier portals for basic registration and as a
the checklist in section 2 of this Paper to assess
single location to manage a profile and related
whether SIM appears to be a strong candidate for
information
taking advantage of external service providers.
ƒƒ Supplier self service as part of a portal And the answer is a resounding “yes”. Why is that?
capability, enabling suppliers to access and
ƒƒ Firstly, it is an important activity and some
update information online themselves rather
aspects of it are essential; it feeds into both the
than having to call a supplier management team
transactional P2P cycle and the strategic sourcing
member at the customer organisation
or category management process. It is not an
ƒƒ Workflow and process management tools that, optional process; it needs to be carried out and is
at their most basic level, allow procurement a critical dependency for many other aspects of
teams to route requests and automate successful procurement.
registration and information gathering
ƒƒ Service providers have the opportunity to leverage
processes, manually intervening by exception
their work across multiple clients-obtaining reliable
rather than for each item requiring attention
supplier information is time-consuming and
ƒƒ Data enrichment capability that provides therefore expensive, so spreading that cost makes
additional information and validation outside of sense. And much of what is needed is common
just supplier-provided information, for instance to all the potential buyers who may be interested
ƒƒ Integration into third-party systems in a certain supplier. So the economies of scale
ƒƒ Internal portal/dashboard views of supplier are obvious in terms of engaging a provider who
activity, ideally customisable, based on role, can aggregate their clients’ requirements in the
function etc SIM field.
ƒƒ Report and visualisation capabilities that ƒƒ Linked to this point is the geographically
provide standard reports dispersed nature of most large organisations’
supply chains. The work to gather the data
ƒƒ Additionally, state of the art Supplier Information
therefore becomes even more onerous for any
Management should provide the flexibility for
individual organisation, as the suppliers are likely
information to be captured to adapt to changing
to be domiciled in a wide range of countries
requirements and according to a risk matrix
around the world.
determined by client and sector needs
ƒƒ Obtaining, verifying and managing supplier
information is complex and requires a degree
of skill and experience. It is not merely an
administrative task that can be fully automated.
For an organisation to develop such experience
internally is therefore expensive, and the right
skills are scarce.
6. Spend Matters Compass Series. Supply risk management -
segmenting the technology and contact landscape and choosing 10
the right category of solutions. 2010, Volume 4
11. How to balance internal and external service provision
– key decisions for procurement professionals
A Spend Matters White Paper sponsored by Achilles
provided from external sources cover everything
from outsourcing of specific spend categories,
partial or total P2P outsource, or key areas such
as Supplier Information Management.
ƒƒ External provision can bring a number of
benefits, ranging from taking advantage of
provider economies of scale or labour arbitrage,
to utilisation of scarce expertise.
ƒƒ Given this, an absolutely central role for the CPO
is to optimise the blend of activities performed
internally and those delivered by external
providers, across the whole procurement eco-
system. CPOs should be analysing activities
in a structured manner to develop, and then
Supplier Information Management using a collaborative model
regularly review, their strategy for achieving this
optimal blend of service provision.
ƒƒ Supplier information is potentially high impact,
ƒƒ Supplier Information Management (SIM) is
high risk, and high value, so expertise is vital.
an interesting - and growing – example of
It has become clear over recent years that
an important activity which can be sourced
understanding the supply base is vital, not only
from external providers, with resulting benefits
for purely commercial reasons but as a key
to the customer organisation. It is gaining
element in risk management and mitigation.
a higher profile as organisations better
Many organisations have learnt to their cost
understand supply chain risk issues, but also
that unawareness of what is happening in their
the commercial benefits that are enabled by
supply chain is not an excuse that customers,
supplier information.
media or investors accept lightly.
ƒƒ That growth trend is likely to continue; and firms
ƒƒ While effective SIM is important, it is generally
in the SIM field who can offer a combination
not perceived as ‘core’ business or a
of strong technology, customer service, and
likely source of competitive advantage, so
global reach are likely to thrive as more and
outsourcing does not sacrifice such potential
more organisations realise the critical impact
benefits. But organisations taking advantage
suppliers can have on their business. Knowing
of external provision can still apply their own
and understanding more about those suppliers
particular intelligence and strategy to the
will increasingly be seen as a strategic
information obtained in order to drive such
imperative for procurement, finance and
advantage.
business leadership.
We can see from this analysis that SIM is a
ƒƒ Supplier Information Management, on the face
very strong candidate for using an external
of it a simple activity, is all about creating a
service provider, and we have seen very
single, consolidated source of information –
strong growth in SIM solutions and service
enabling an organisation to collect, maintain
providers over the last few years.
and aggregate information from all sources
9. Conclusions within the business. This transcends master
ƒƒ There are many options for external service data management – and creates a means to
provision to supplement activities performed leverage all information enabling the entire
by the internal procurement function, and the enterprise to gain the necessary insight and
range of providers available across most areas opportunities.
of interest is growing. Services which can be
11
12. About Achilles About the Author - Peter Smith
As Peter Smith describes, the management of Managing Director, Spend Matters UK/Europe
supplier information isn’t often considered a core Peter has 25 years’ experience in procurement
activity, it’s labour intensive, repetitive and many and supply chain as a manager, procurement
businesses don’t have the resources to devote to director, consultant, analyst and writer. He edits
the task. This can leave organisations exposed to Spend Matters UK/Europe, and with Jason Busch,
supplier non-compliance or unexpected failure. the founder of Spend Matters in the US, has
Achilles offer a Supplier Information Management developed it into a leading web-based resource
solution to provide businesses with one source for procurement and industry professionals.
of accurate, up-to-date and validated supplier Peter is also Managing Director of Procurement
information. The solution encompasses Excellence Ltd, a leading specialist consulting
everything from finding and selecting potential firm, and is recognised as one of the UK’s leading
suppliers, through to pre-qualifying, evaluating experts in public and private sector procurement
and monitoring performance. Each of these performance improvement. Peter has an MA in
is an important step towards the continuous Mathematics from Cambridge University, is a
management of risk throughout the supply chain. Fellow and was 2003 President of the Chartered
Thousands of buyers use Achilles every day to gain Institute of Purchasing and Supply, and his
visibility of their suppliers, and with operations in 23 first (co-authored) book, “Buying Professional
countries and 20 years’ experience, they can do so Services”, was published by the Economist Books
with confidence whilst unlocking tangible benefits in June 2010*. Before moving into consultancy, he
of cost reduction, increased process efficiency and was Procurement Director for the NatWest Group,
risk reduction. the Department of Social Security (the DSS), and
the Dun & Bradstreet Corporation, and held senior
positions in the Mars Group.
Spend Matters is thankful for the support of
Achilles, our sponsor for this paper. Spend Matters
sponsors have no additional opportunity to
influence the content or research of Spend Matters
material or products relative to other software or
services providers.
Further information on this topic and others can be
found at the website www.spendmatters.co.uk, or
we can be contacted at psmith@spendmatters.
com. Reproduction of this publication in any form
without prior written permission is forbidden.
*Buying Professional Services (Czerniawska and
Smith, Economist Books, 2010).
Achilles Group Limited
30 Park Gate, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4SH, UK
T: +44 (0)1235 820813 F: +44 (0)1235 8211093 E: marketing@achilles.com W: www.achilles.com
001-02/2012
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