Whenever I read, I’m always trying to mine “knowledge nuggets” for additions into my collection of business transformation guiding principles. Recently, while re-reading Tribe of Mentors, I stumbled upon what is one of my new favorite business quotes. It is a seemingly innocuous comment by Temple Grandin during an interview for the book. It goes […]
Procurement is a maturing profession and cannot be the bottleneck in an organization if it is to be taken seriously. Unlike engineering, medicine, accounting or law, there is no overarching regulatory body that oversees the work of procurement professionals. A buyer doesn’t require a special ring or degree to practice the procurement profession. Companies can […]
By negotiating the best contract terms with your supplier for a long-term contract, you may be increasing your company’s costs. But how can that be? The Buyer Wants the Best Price All things being equal, a buyer will optimize the price being paid for goods and services. To their credit, buyers can get incredibly creative […]
I have a problem with the often-used expression: best practices. Phew… There I said it. I’ve been holding that in for a while… But why you ask? The definition of Best practice is: Noun. Commercial or professional procedures that are accepted or prescribed as being correct or most effective. Oxford Dictionary On the other hand, […]
Having now been involved in a dozen system implementations, I believe that defining guiding principles for your IT initiatives is “necessary but not sufficient”. Guiding principles are a set of heuristics that guide organizational decision making in a common direction. However, if defined during a one-off activity at the outset of a project they will […]