As we enter the final days of 2009’s second quarter, I revel in the resiliency and elasticity of the business world and so many companies. Although General Motors and associated suppliers are struggling, many banks have successfully raised significantly more capital than required by regulators from the “stress tests.” And, the Dow has come close to recovering 2009 losses. We anticipate that the recession’s end will soon be in sight. I become more optimistic each week that the world’s best organizations, including most Sourcing Interests Group members, will survive this recession and ultimately reveal leaner and more dynamic enterprises.

With this in mind, the SIG team is focused on keeping the value of SIG membership extremely high. We are pleased to announce that our Fa...Read More

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At a recent NASSCOM (premier organization that represents and sets the tone for public policy for the Indian software industry) keynote John Chambers quoted Jack Welch, “You’ll never have a great company until you have a near-death experience.”  If that holds true today, then we have a number of great companies that are going to rise out of the ashes of 2009. 

What will differentiate many of these companies may be their ability to focus on their core competency and grow market share by outsourcing business processes instead of waiting for credit markets to open up for internal investments. Can’t finance a new ERP system? Why not consider outsourcing tactical procurement and source-to-pay functions? If you can’t borrow money, the outsourcing market is waiting to take these processes in-house and...Read More

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Greening of the supply chain, sustainability, supplier diversity—how refreshing that these are still relevant to some companies today. I met with about 30 Fortune 1,000 companies at a SIG regional meeting late last week. While we all shared angst about the economy, stress about how to handle risk, and were unsure about how long the recession would last, a few companies were still focused on the big picture. It was refreshing to find out that corporate social responsibility is still relevant.

For those present, today’s problems were considered by most as temporary. The big picture was still in view. It was wonderful to hear during the round table session that while companies were feeling economic pressures, they had not let up their internal pressure on greening the supply chain, finding recyclable packaging and meeting supplier diversity goals. And in the fina...Read More

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A consultant is someone that tells you what time it is by asking to borrow your watch. That is the standard joke, to be sure, but it is not what world-class consultants are made of.

What differentiates a successful consultant today vs. a decade ago is the ability to use critical thinking along with strong social skills to influence people. To me, the best consultants are those who have an analytical background, but practical experience that helps round out their skill sets. From an educational perspective, consultants with the magical combination of a hard science undergraduate degree and a MBA or a Masters in Supply Chain seem to stand out among their peers. When I think about the people I admire most in sourcing, (Carrie Ericson, John Evans, Tim Minahan to name a few), they are all epitomized with an ability to consistently adapt to change, create solid methodology and s...Read More

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February 2009 for me means it is a time of change. I have new goals for the year that I am excited to undertake and I can’t think of a better way to welcome in the New Year than making a dramatic change in the leadership of the United States. Gone are my goals from 2008, they are either recorded as completed or accepted as not. I am not lamenting in a failure, nor lauding my successes, they are now part of my past.

Change, six little letters that scare many and energize some. Change, a verb that means, “to become different, or make something or somebody different.”  Personally I like the sound of that. We can all become different and we can all make something in our businesses different. Like it or not, 2009 is going to require us all to change if we want to emerge stronger, more united and in still in business. Change, the creation of a &...Read More

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This in a Wall Street Journal article recently: "How to attract top-notch talent when you are in bankruptcy..." While it is a different approach to recruiting, it is important to hear the silver lining. Top-notch talent is still in demand during tough economic times. 2009 will be an interesting and educational year on so many levels as sourcing professionals are relied upon to deliver bottom-line savings.

Today, many sourcing professionals are preparing to source their organization's potential share of the new administration's economic stimulus package. They are looking for best practices, and new companies continue to join SIG to network with other sourcing professionals and share thought leadership amid the current crisis.

So, with the economic crisis comes opportunity. Professionals in the government space are discussing their lack of ability to manage...Read More

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2008 is finally coming to a close. What a wild ride it has been. The U.S. has finally acknowledged we are in a recession and have been for a year, the world is experiencing an economic crisis and there is a global war on terrorism. We have seen the bailing out of some of the most respected companies in the world and a complete restructuring of the credit markets. The good news is that 2008 is finally going to be over and we can look forward to the new year.

Many have had a difficult 2008. I was talking to a friend and SIG member a few days ago about his loss of a close family friend in the Mumbai terrorist attack. He shared with me his feelings about the future and how we each can play a part in making the world right again.

“I have decided that in my personal life and behavior, I have to radiate peace, love and harmony...Read More

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On behalf of all the SIG staff, we offer our heartfelt condolences and prayers to those impacted by the recent terrorist attacks. The world is so small. In years gone by a terrorist attack in India would be reflected in the news and we would feel disconnected from the unfortunate victims. Today, many of our companies have operations in India, work with Indian providers daily and have many expats working abroad. Supply chain professionals are now personally connected to India and to people we know on a personal basis. In a world this small we must recognize the interconnectedness of global supply chains. We should reflect on our emergency preparedness, redundancies and offshoring decision-making criteria. India has the resiliency to address these terrorist attacks and we can all pray for a calming of tensions. 

On Thursday we are conducting a webcast with SCMR an...Read More

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While we deal with worldwide recession, loss of employment and growing need at the food banks, we need to stop and think about the silver lining. The silver lining to me is the change we are about to see in corporate America and the corporate world. We see fiscal responsibility and the beauty of cash reserves for the first time in a long time. We will see impulse spending driven down, availability of credit drying up and the outcome will be fiscally responsible consumers, saving money before spending. We are watching the U.S. dollar rising against the euro, British pound, Canadian dollar, Mexican peso and Brazilian real, which says that the world still sees the U.S. as a safe haven in hard times.

I find myself excited about the possibilities we have before us. Think about falling oil prices allowing airlines to get back into the bla...Read More

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The Supply Chain Management profession has made incredible strides since the early 90s when I became involved in sourcing. We went from being an overhead organization to a bottom line contributor. We went from “shopping” and “order fulfillment” to strategic sourcing. We went from price to total cost. We went from an order taker to team facilitator. During this time we also moved into an online world that didn’t exist for baby boomers and Generation Xers growing up. We went from a generation that started without desktop computers, voicemail, email or cellphones to a generation that multi-tasks and sets up meetings through texting and keeps up to date through IM. We went from a generation of big business making promises to consumers to a generation that is four times more apt to believe a complete stranger’s testimony than a c...Read More

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As the financial markets and supply markets web continues to be weaved, we are seeing many indicators that demonstrate a strong supply chain organization can flourish in this economy. The unemployment rate reached a 14-year high in October at 6.5 percent and economists are projecting the rate will approach 8 percent in the next 3 to 6 months. Energy prices continue to fall as demand falls. Metals, resins, and chemicals are all down lower than they have been in months, if not years. As the financial markets continue to decline, we are going to see more companies going bankrupt, massive layoffs and worldwide demand continue to fall. Back to Economics 101, supply and demand. We are facing far less strain on supply markets from emerging economies like China and India, and we are finding surplus supply in the market places, which means buyers can now capture these lower...Read More

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Winston Churchill said, "When you are going through hell, keep going!” Tracey Lawrence added, ”Don’t slow down, just keep moving, if you’re scared don’t show it, you might just get out before the devil even knows you’re there.”  I think this is good advice in today’s market. 

"Status Quo" is not a motto for today’s supply chain professional. We need to keep moving, keep the education coming and stay abreast of market dynamics. It is tantamount for supply chain professionals to broaden their professional networks to share best practices. The manner by which we approached supply chain issues in the past may no longer be the most effective in today’s marketplace. Our supply markets, monetary markets and global partners are al...Read More

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