219: #TakeAction: One Technology at a Time 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 take...
Oct 22, 2018•6 min•Ep. 219
218: #TakeAction: Simplify Your Specification 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 t...
Oct 19, 2018•5 min•Ep. 218
217: #TakeAction: Overcome Your CEO's Apathy 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 ta...
Oct 18, 2018•6 min•Ep. 217
216: #TakeAction: What Keeps Them Up At Night? 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 ...
Oct 17, 2018•7 min•Ep. 216
215: #TakeAction: Raise the Level of Your Game 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 ...
Oct 16, 2018•6 min•Ep. 215
214: #TakeAction: Engage in Start-Up Communities 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 an...
Oct 15, 2018•5 min•Ep. 214
213: #TakeAction: Too Many Eggs in One Basket? 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 ...
Oct 12, 2018•5 min•Ep. 213
212: #TakeAction: Build a Feedback Loop 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 n...
Oct 11, 2018•6 min•Ep. 212
211: #TakeAction: Develop a Negotiation Micro-Plan 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 ...
Oct 10, 2018•5 min•Ep. 211
210: #TakeAction: Save "It" Before "It's" Too Late 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 ...
Oct 09, 2018•6 min•Ep. 210
209: #TakeAction: Get a Non-Procurement Mentor 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 ...
Oct 08, 2018•4 min•Ep. 209
208: #TakeAction: What Do They Really Want? 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 tak...
Oct 05, 2018•5 min•Ep. 208
207: #TakeAction: Serve Your Platinum Stakeholders feat. Tim Jones 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 midd...
Oct 04, 2018•7 min•Ep. 207
206: #TakeAction: Build Your Brand the Apple Way feat. Steve Wozniak 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 mi...
Oct 03, 2018•4 min•Ep. 206
205: #TakeAction: Run a Request for Partner feat. Kate Vitasek 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 o...
Oct 02, 2018•6 min•Ep. 205
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. A...
Oct 01, 2018•5 min•Ep. 204
Cryptography, tokenization, tokenomics, initial coin offerings, security, utility and payment tokens, crypto wallets, and blockchain. If some or all of those sound like a mish-mash of buzzwords, then today’s episode is for you! I’m joined to explore these topics and their applicability to procurement by Charlotte de Brabandt and Henry Fudge. Charlotte is the current ISM 30 Under 30 Megawatt Winner. Henry is the Founding Partner and CEO of Cryptonox - an initial coin offering consulting firm, and...
Sep 24, 2018•41 min•Ep. 203
How to Buy a Gorilla? The good news is that it is a figurative question rather than a literal one! In fact, it is the title of the book written by today’s guest, David Meikle. David has a deep background in advertising, including work with some of the world’s most iconic brands, for agencies such as Ogilvy and Mather, where most latterly he was the Managing Director of their Russian business. The gorilla in question was an award-winning 2007 TV advert in the UK created to advertise Cadbury’s cho...
Sep 10, 2018•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 201
Today’s guest is Oliver Gall, the Head of Global Sourcing at S&P Global. Oliver has responsibility for the strategic vision, operational planning and the execution of Procurement strategy and he leads a team of direct reports and outsourced functions located in multiple locations across the world. In our conversation, we focused on the future of the procurement operating model - we consider what this is likely to look like, how we all can adapt to thrive in this new environment, and what are som...
Sep 03, 2018•48 min•Ep. 200
How do you create a podcast? What is the production process? How do you select guests? How do I get on the show? What is the “business” of Art of Procurement and what are your revenue streams? These are all questions that I am often asked, whether it be at a conference, when talking to potential guests and partners, or just during my day to day conversations with procurement professionals around the world. And so today we go behind the scenes of Art of Procurement as I attempt to answer as many ...
Aug 27, 2018•28 min•Ep. 199
What can we do to protect ourselves against tariffs, and what options do we have when tariffs are levied on the products or materials that I buy? These are two questions that I have received regularly from listeners over the past couple of months, against the backdrop both of increasing trade tensions, and the ongoing uncertainty around Brexit. And so to help answer those questions, I reached out to Bill Michels. Bill is a recognized expert in Purchasing and Supply Chain Management and has worke...
Aug 20, 2018•37 min•Ep. 198
Today I welcome onto the show Ted Olshefski. Ted is responsible for Direct Procurement at Panasonic North America. I’ve come to know Ted well over the past 18 months or so, and I’m delighted to finally be able to welcome him to the show! I had the opportunity to sit down with Ted in preparation for his upcoming presentation at ProcureCon Direct 2018 in San Diego on the topic of single source suppliers. Our discussion turned into an introduction to some of the considerations at play when developi...
Aug 13, 2018•28 min•Ep. 197
Gordon Donovan is one of the leading thinkers in procurement on the topic of skill and behavior development, and I’m also honored to call him a good friend! In today's podcast, we continue our recent theme of procurement capability development with a focus on how we can actually scale the behaviors that we want to drive in our teams. We start by talking more broadly about capability development, before arrowing in on capability frameworks. A good capability framework is as much of an art than a ...
Aug 06, 2018•53 min•Ep. 196
The deal is done, the contract signed, and the supplier starts supplying. Then the invoices roll in. But how much time do we invest in making sure that the supplier is invoicing the right amount? In a world of competing priorities, I am afraid to admit that I trusted my suppliers to be billing the correct amounts. Yet, mistakes happen. In fact, as today's guest Ben Evans shared, between 40%-60% of suppliers whose invoices his firm, Auditec, review contain material billing errors. Categories with...
Jul 30, 2018•54 min•Ep. 195
I’m joined on the pod this week by Odelle (Brown) Bell, Managing Director of 8 Consulting. Odelle is well known within procurement across Australia and New Zealand, having previously owned and led the procurement recruiting firm Evolve People. Now at 8 Consulting, Odelle is focused on helping her clients cultivate workplaces that enable greater employee engagement - and ultimately more impactful teams. Our conversation spanned the topic of workplace behaviors and effectiveness. Odelle is a big b...
Jul 23, 2018•59 min•Ep. 194
This episode marks our first serious foray into understanding why people do the things they do. Our guest, Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman of Ogilvy and founder of Ogilvy Change looks at consumer behavior, media and communications through the twin lenses of Behavioral Economics and Evolutionary Psychology. We sought Rory out because we believe the implications of his work go well beyond how to better sell consumer products and services. His is a powerful perspective for us to incorporate into our...
Jul 16, 2018•2 hr 32 min•Ep. 193
Today’s guest on the pod is Jonathan O’Brien. Jonathan is the CEO and a founding member of Positive Purchasing. He has over 25 years’ experience of working with household name companies around the world to help transform procurement capability. Jonathan works with executive teams to shape and implement procurement strategies, he also trains, coaches and develops procurement teams to perform and realize their potential. Many listeners may recognize Jonathan as the author of a number of procuremen...
Jul 09, 2018•41 min•Ep. 192
Back in 2016, I interviewed Jimmy Ankleseria over the course of two podcasts, on the topic of strategic cost management. They were very popular at the time, and contain a number of timeless insights into how we can be more strategic about understanding and managing the input costs of the products and services we buy. With today being a holiday week here in the US, I have combined the original two shows - which clocked in at over 2 hours - into a single 40-minute episode. Listen in to hear Jimmy ...
Jul 02, 2018•48 min•Ep. 191
The quality and accessibility of master data is a critical but often overlooked pillar of all successful procurement teams. Complex and difficult to master, it's often left to the side while we pursue "easier" transformation and improvement initiatives. Technology is now opening up a new world of possibilities for converting seemingly disparate data into useable intelligence by taking new approaches - leading to more effective sourcing and category strategies. I’m joined on the show today to dis...
Jun 25, 2018•55 min•Ep. 190
I’m joined once again on the show by Jeanette Nyden. Jeanette is a well-renowned contracts and negotiations specialist, who approaches her work with a focus on building win-win, sustainable, agreements. I interviewed Jeanette recently – AOP173 – where we discussed the topic of contract negotiations. If you haven’t had the opportunity to listen in to that interview, you should check it out! But, in the time we had scheduled to chat, we didn’t get to all of my questions. And so I invited Jeanette ...
Jun 11, 2018•38 min•Ep. 188
