Art of Procurement

Entrepreneurship and innovation are highly prized in today's business environment, but has procurement managed to deliver its fair share of either? I'm joined today by Sarah Scudder, President of the Real Sourcing Network (RSN), a company that provides clients with print management software that allows them to manage the print category in-house. In our conversation we discuss a wide range of topics, including healthy risk taking for the sake of career development, how to make the most of modern procurement events, and print category best practices. Sarah shares her unmatched perspective on this $77B U.S. industry, and how procurement can leverage technology to get the best total value by combining large dominant players and smaller, niche market entrants in this labor-dependent, capital intensive space.

How can procurement leaders create the environment necessary to attract the next generation of talent into the profession - and help them fulfill their potential? I'm joined today by returning guest Charlotte de Brabandt - ISM's 2018 30 Under 30 Winner - and Yannick Blattler, the Managing Director of NeoViso, a consulting firm that helps companies more effectively engage with Gen Z. In our conversation, we discuss common misconceptions about Millennial and Gen Z workers, while Charlotte and Yannick share tips and strategies that will help organizations attract and engage the next generation of procurement leaders.

Are you ready for 2019? In today's podcast - the last of 2018 - I reflect on what has changed for procurement this year, and what hasn't! I then share a couple of predictions for 2019, including my recommendations for areas of technology investment next year. Finally, I leave 2018 with three questions to consider over the holiday break that will help you kick-start your change journey in 2019.

Out of the 232 podcasts to date, today is the first time that we dig into GPO's - or Group Purchasing Organizations. And as I planned out this topic, I invited today's guest, Jay Black, to join me. Jay is Vice President at Insight Sourcing Group and has significant experience in the GPO space, selling and operating services under a number of different GPO delivery models. I'll be honest and say that, prior to today's discussion, I have always felt that a GPO fit a very specific market niche of small companies. However, our conversation opened my eyes, especially to the use of GPO's in larger organizations as part of a multi-dimensional approach. Jay and I explore the nuts and bolts of GPO's - when and how to use them, what to look for, and how to continue to benefit once any initial one-time savings have been exhausted.

Today on the show I am joined by Mike Morsch. Mike is the Vice President of Global Procurement and Supply Chain at CDK Global. Mike shares more about CDK in our interview, but to give you some context, CDK Global is a $2B+ revenue company that provides technology and digital marketing solutions to the automotive dealership industry. They were formally the Dealer Services division of ADP before being spun off into an independent company back in 2014. In today's conversation, we discuss Mike, and CDK's journey to transform procurement within CDK after the spin-off. As is often the case after a spin-off like this, the new company - in this case CDK Global - has to rebuild a large part of its organization from the ground up. Either the infrastructure that comes over from the former parent company is not suited for a smaller company that the spun-off entity now is, or there is no infrastructure that comes across at all! I question Mike about the three phases of transformation that typically occur in a situation like this: steadying the ship post the spin-out, rebuilding capabilities and more fundamental technical infrastructure, and then looking forward to bringing in new technology to evolve the procurement value proposition. As you will hear, Mike has deep IT experience outside of procurement, and so I wanted to tap into this to understand how he looks at technology and developing a business case for investments in technology.

My guest is Edmund Zagorin. Edmund in the founder and CEO of BidOps, and I hope he won't mind me saying, but a technology geek when it comes to procurement. Our conversation today focuses on the application of emerging technology to the sourcing process - particularly complex sourcing events - and the subsequent negotiation process. Of particular interest to me was Edmund's quest to automate the negotiations process. I dug into the what, the why and the how as I explored if negotiations can be completely automated, or if automation in the negotiation process helps the human ultimately seal the deal.

This week is Thanksgiving here in the US… a time when most people are thinking about spending time with their families rather than listening to a procurement podcast! So with that in mind, I thought I'd wait until next week to release another interview. I'm going to be spending a lot of my week planning for 2019; for Art of Procurement, and for our CatalystCo product and service roadmap. As I do that, I want to ask you for your help...

Today's episode was recorded last month at the SIG Fall Summit, with my good friend Antonio Humphreys. Antonio is Senior Manager of Global Procure to Pay at Adobe in San Jose, California. Antonio is a returnee to Art of Procurement, having previously joined me last year back on episode 157 when we discussed the Marketing category and general procurement organizational development. Today, we focused on Antonio's experience in managing teams within a global and virtual environment, including his insights into fostering a sense of team across borders.

Normal service is resumed on the podcast today, as we return to our weekly interview format! Today, I'm joined by one of my good friends, Alison Smith. Alison has a broad range of procurement experience - as a practitioner, service provider, trainer, facilitator, and coach! I was first introduced to Alison's work via her moniker of The Purchasing Coach. I really enjoyed reading her blog, and her perspectives on how we can all unlock our own potential, within the context of procurement. Her thoughts and approaches challenge the status quo, which is something that really calls to me! As I got to know Alison, I began to count on her for some of my own coaching needs, and I've been excited to follow her progress as she began to write her first book, Can't See the Wood for the Trees. Recently published, it helps readers unlock their potential, and turn challenges into opportunities by helping us to think differently. In today's conversation, we take a deep dive into the book, and contextualize it for procurement professionals.

226: #TakeAction: 15-Minutes a Day I do not have an interview for you today. In fact, for the month of October, we are going to do something completely different. I ask practitioners about their challenges where ever I go, and the single piece of feedback I get is that for all the great ideas they read and hear about, it is hard to put them into practice First, I know many of you listen to the pod while commuting or working out - and it is hard to stop in the middle of a podcast and takes notes on what actions you want to take. And second, there is always a challenge for people between wanting to invest in their own personal development, and the time pressures of a hectic job. We have crowned October as #TakeActionOctober - because no phrase is complete these days without a hashtag! October will be all about taking the actions you need to elevate the influence and impact of you AND your team. Every day this month, you will hear a micro-sized pod - no more than 5 minutes per day - that I selected to inspire you to act. We've curated Content from the back catalog of over 200 Art of Procurement episodes, and more than 1,000 articles featured in our weekly newsletter This Week in Procurement. I'll also throw in some of my own experiences for good measure. The commitment I ask of you is to take one action to put into practice - or to coach or mentor a team member or peer - your key takeaway from each episode.