Transformation Leadership
Procurement best practices, supply management strategies, and overall leadership techniques for transforming a company and keeping it vibrant and resilient.
Can Toyota Recover? - part I
Toyota, for many years the icon of manufacturing excellence and automobile quality, has stumbled badly. And, its stumble appears to have multiple dimensions; among them: 1. The actual design/production issues that underlie the reported quality concerns (brakes, acceleration). 2. The slow internal handling of quality data that pointed to problems that deserved correction. 3. The mishandling of comm ...... Read More
Comments (1)The Future of Procurement - IV: Speaking Like a CFO (part 3)
Another important aspect of Speaking Like a CFO is knowing how to build a business case in support of your overall transformation agenda, as well as business cases specific to subjects such as technology investments. When we work with clients, we prefer to start with a business case from a total transformation perspective. Why? It is part of a logical sequence, as outlined in Part 1 of this series ...... Read More
Comments (0)The Future of Procurement - IV: Speaking Like a CFO (part 2)
One important aspect of Speaking Like a CFO is demonstrating that you are adding genuine value. It can’t be a scorecard of inflated “supply chain dollars” - where everybody automatically takes the figures reported by procurement and reduces them by 25 percent, 50 percent or more in order to have something that is believable. The scorecard needs to be “P & L statemen ...... Read More
Comments (0)The Future of Procurement - IV: Speaking Like a CFO (part 1)
If attendance at a conference workshop is any indication, then the topic of how to Speak Like a CFO (and Gain Management’s Attention) is on a lot of minds these days. And it definitely should be on your mind, not just right now, but on an ongoing basis. Being able to communicate with your senior executives in their language, and thereby connect with them, is another element of the future of ...... Read More
Comments (1)The Great Recession, or is it The Great Opportunity?
Ok—the Great Recession is officially over, according to the economists. Positive GDP growth is occurring in the U.S. and other major economies, and the labor markets are beginning to stabilize and improve. Whew, what a relief! Not so fast! The question you should be asking yourself is this: “What did I accomplish during the Great Recession?” If your answer is, “I hunker ...... Read More
Comments (0)Are You Making Strategic Sourcing So Complicated that No-one Uses It?
I was speaking recently with someone who will remain anonymous. He was describing the current state of a large company’s strategic sourcing process. This company had apparently invested a lot of time and effort to create a very elaborate and comprehensive sourcing process.In fact, as he was describing this situation to me, I could picture a panel of die-hard consultants (or a panel of commi ...... Read More
Comments (0)Leadership versus Management: an Important Distinction - II
An absolutely essential element in building an organization of leaders, at all levels, is to provide feedback on leadership behavior and practices. Think of this as a discovery process (learning what you don’t know), combined with a continuous improvement process to address identified issues and gaps (i.e. a personal development plan).The systematic practice of gathering feedback from direc ...... Read More
Comments (0)Leadership versus Management: an Important Distinction - I
How often have you heard this comment about a peer, or felt this way about a boss: “He/she is a really nice person, and works hard, but he/she has no administrative skills.”Sometimes, the word “administrative” is used when the subject is “leading.” Other times, it is used in lieu of the word “management.” Does your company understand the diff ...... Read More
Comments (3)The Inventory Bullwhip is Here
Regular readers of this blog will recall the reminders posted about the inventory bullwhip phenomenon. See in particular the blogs of March 30, 2009 and April 14, 2009. As many of you know, “the bullwhip effect” is caused by small changes in demand (up or down) at one end of the supply chain, resulting in large variations (whip effect) in the other end of the supply chain. These osci ...... Read More
Comments (0)Managing Global Supply and Risk - book review
I admit it—I am a fan of Professor Robert Trent. Not just because Bob is a professor at one of my alma mater schools (Lehigh University). And, not just because Bob and I have successfully collaborated on a few topics, including a day-long seminar sponsored by The Iacocca Institute. One of the main reasons I respect Bob Trent is that he is an accomplished professor (and author) who worked in ...... Read More
Comments (0)The Future of Procurement - Part III (Supplier Innovation and Revenue Enhancement)
This series will periodically cover new and leading-edge practices that should become mainstream in the procurement profession in the next 5 to 10 years. Today’s topic is supplier innovation and revenue enhancement.It is becoming a common view that purchasing departments should look at all areas of value creation, not just price, when engaging suppliers. To say it another way, are you explo ...... Read More
Comments (2)The Other Plot to Wreck America
In the politically-charged, partisan environment in Washington, you might wonder whether there is any issue which can generate widespread support for change. I have a candidate to suggest: dealing with what Warren Buffett calls the financial weapons of mass destruction. In short, the behaviors, the techniques, and the risk-taking that triggered the almost-calamitous economic drop-off a year ago ar ...... Read More
Comments (0)
