Strategic Sourcing Training: Indicator of Renewed Confidence?

In the past few weeks, there have been a series of indications that the economic tailspin may be mostly behind us. Among those indicators are three that I find particularly interesting.

1) MAPI Quarterly US Industrial Outlook report concludes the recession has bottomed out.

“Unfortunately there are no quick fixes, but time, the normal inventory cycle, and the repair of financial institutions have lessened the economic slide to a point where signs of stabilization have appeared,” said Daniel J. Meckstroth, Ph.D., Chief Economist for the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI and author of the analysis. “Recently housing starts have been increasing on a month-to-month basis, auto sales have picked up a bit, and the worst of inventory destocking is over. These and several other indicators point to a bottoming out in the recession.”

2) Equity markets up 50 percent from recent lows

This is a classic indicator. As most investors know, stock prices generally lead economic recovery by about 6 months. If history is any indication, that means that the U.S. economy stopped contracting and began to grow in the early part of the fourth quarter.

3) Training inquiries are rising

In our own business at Greybeard Advisors, we have experienced a sharp increase in inquiries for our core 1 ½ day training program for Strategic Sourcing and Negotiations Management (SSNM). As most readers of this column can attest, training commitments are often early casualties of business downturns. There is reason to believe that a renewed interest and commitment to competency building reflects growing confidence in the business environment.

Is your company still in a hunker down mode? For background and advice on this challenge, refer to my July 31 post in the archives.