Procurement GPS

In the 1980s business grasped the concept of globalisation and the great migration began. First, manufacturing migrated to locations such as Mexico and Eastern Europe. It then moved on to India and China. Now migration is occurring to the likes of Vietnam and Cambodia. However, some businesses are returning to their original countries. What is going on? » more

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Andrew Cox has recently lambasted self-assessment in a Supply Management online article, stating that "They [procurement leaders] show you some sort of half-arsed technical and commercial evaluation methodology that has no scoring evaluation, moderation, and validation process." For us at the PIU, it's quite a relief to hear someone as eminent as Andrew thinking in a similar way to us, although our criticism would be of the industry, which up until now hasn't offered anything better. » more

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Doctor Who had the Daleks, Star Trek had the Borg (who were the scariest). As the Borg approached they would access their victim's intercom and say "Lower your shields and prepare to be assimilated. Resistance is futile." Their victims would vainly try to fight them off, but their relentless push for domination seems indomitable. In these examples, the enemy is 'out there' not within our own organisations. So why do we so often find ourselves fighting our colleagues when we try to change things? » more

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Fix the Process Not the Problem - this was the title of an article by Sirkin & Stalk in Harvard Business Review (July-August 1990), a seminal piece of work that highlighted the difference between treating symptoms and addressing the root causes in order to bring about sustainable levels of continuous and step-change improvement. » more

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