ICYMIM: April 2, 2018

Source One's series for keeping up with the most recent highlights in procurement, strategic sourcing, and supply chain news week-to-week.  Check in with us every Monday to stay up to date with the latest supply management news.
Jonathan O'Brien, Spend Matters, 3/30/2018
O'Brien examines the six buyer personalities that typically co-exist within a Procurement department. Ranging from cutthroat to altruistic, these personality types each take a unique approach to their duties and offer unique benefits (and drawbacks) to their companies. Cutthroat buying, for example, is typically effective for producing short-term wins. While there's a time and a place for this highly aggressive purchasing, it's not generally effective for maintaining long-term, stable strategic partnerships. Conversely, altruistic buying is characterized by a focus on honesty, fairness, and transparency. These purchases often go hand-in-hand with sustainability initiatives and serve to promote ethical sourcing practices.

Will the Trade Wars Be Good for Advanced Sourcing
Michael Lamoureux, Sourcing Innovation, 3/30/2018
Only time will tell what the new trade tariffs will mean for global supply chains. It's clear, however, that many organizations will need to put their risk mitigation plans into effect for the first time. The Doctor suggests that it's more important than ever for Procurement professionals to keep abreast of the latest news. It's also essential that organizations seek out more robust platforms for cost modeling.  Changes to global supply operations will almost certainly become necessary in the coming months. Without genuine insights into their spend, Procurement teams can't hope to initiate these changes effectively. Ultimately, The Doctor suggests caution, flexibility, and vigilance. These new tariffs were utterly unexpected, and it's likely their results will prove just as surprising.

Enterprises and Their Freelancers: What Does Upwork's Recent Study Tell Us? 
Andrew Karpie, Spend Matters, 3/29.2018
Karpie dives into a recent Upwork focused on contingent labor and other emerging talent trends. The results, he suggests, immediately point to one clear issue. Freelancers and other contingent resources are poorly tracked by internal HR departments. As a result, enterprises lack insights into the performance and utilization of their contingent resources. The survey also makes it clear that companies of all sizes expect to leverage freelancers with greater regularity in the future. These resources, they hope, will enable them to compete on a global scale and narrow the talent gaps that exist within a variety of industries.

Share To:

Strategic Sourceror

Post A Comment:

0 comments so far,add yours