Procurement Transformation: Be Descriptive, Measureable and Specific
March 16th, 2012By Robert L. Scheier
Procurement transformation. The phrase does not exactly roll off the tongue, and it is not that easy to put into action, either. For reasons including failing to focus on the most critical changes or more clearly articulate the vision up front, as well as focusing too much on sourcing rather than on associated procurement functions such as contract and performance management, fewer than half of organizations looking to “transform” their procurement functions have been successful or very successful.
Got Trouble with Your Outsourcer? Fire Yourself
October 18th, 2011By Robert L. Scheier
OK, that wasn’t QUITE the bottom line in a recent Sourcing Interest Group/ Vantage Partners’ Webinar “Dealing with the Problem Deal.” But experts did say that the knee-jerk reaction — firing the outsourcer – often doesn’t work. Neither does more of what got you into trouble in the first place: More meetings, more reports, more metrics and more reporting.
Outsourcing Contracts: Six Ways to Preserve a Good Marriage
October 11th, 2010
Building better relationships between outsourcing providers and customers is an enduring topic probably because relatively few “marriages” go as well as expected.
Steve Semerdjian, a partner in the New York office of Loeb & Loeb LLP and Chris Nuttall at PA Consulting ran an informative panel discussion last week at the Sourcing Interests Group Leadership Summit on this subject by directing the focus on ways to improve the contractual process. Here are our top six take-aways from that panel discussion:
Good Morning Americas: How Do You Feel About the News from Mexico?
October 7th, 2010
Should the Mexico sourcing industry leadership be more proactive in telling a more complete story about what’s really going on in Mexico?
When I asked 21 people about the state of offshoring services in the Americas today at the SIG Global Leadership Summit here in Huntington Beach, Calif., what do you think became the most talked about issue? Was it about the influx of India providers into LatAm, Brazil landing the Olympics, or the remarkable transformation going on in Colombia?
Nope. The top concern, by far, was the drumbeat of downbeat and depressing news coming out of Mexico.
Now, let’s be clear, I was talking (during a corporate speed-meet session) to 21 outsourcing and procurement industry professionals. These are people who have some degree of higher knowledge about geography and its sometimes complex relationship with offshore outsourcing functions. In other words, this is a group of people who might have a more rationale and less reactive view on the popular images of a particular offshoring destination.
SIG Sound Bytes: TPI, MindTree, China and the Next SIG Event
April 2nd, 2010By Kirk Laughlin
Adjusting to the ‘new normal’, vendor management transformation in a post-recessionary environment, managing procurement vs. finance corporate showdowns and making sourcing relationships really work – these were just a few of the top level themes dominating the top flight S.I.G. event that just wrapped up yesterday in Savannah, Georgia.
Some key takeaways and insider news items that we picked up during the event:
China Meltdown: The Google-China clash of recent weeks, and other troubling signs of favoritism shown to domestic service providers and industry, are causing many to believe that the ‘open door’ policy of the last ten years is suddenly get slammed shut. On stage and in offline meetings, leading consulting firms and players in the market are quick to say that the political risk in China is something to take very seriously. It’s as if China has suddenly spiked on the risk scale and those with investments there need to take a hard look at diversification outside of the country. Even a China-based consultancy – which aims to play on the same field as IBM and Accenture one day – has representatives at the SIG event. When asked about the intensifying problems, the consultant said – “It’s all real.” By the way, Business Week has been doing a strong job covering this story and the implications for U.S. companies struggling to deal with the loss of access and eminence they once enjoyed.
MindTree Returns to the Nearshore: Insiders tell Nearshore Americas that India-based IT Solutions Provider MindTree which established a delivery center in Mexico in 2008, but quietly shut it down sometime after that – will be re-establishing a center in Mexico sometime in the second quarter of this year. The motivation to re-initiate a center is driven by the need to service a particular customer, sources said. MindTree spoke at the SIG event along with one of its customers, Avis Budget Group.
By Kirk Laughlin
Speaking to several dozen buy-side procurement leaders and other people who control the purse-strings of their company’s sourcing investments during the last few days at the S.I.G. Global Summit here in Savannah, one revelation has become crystal clear: There is a huge gap between buyers who get and embrace the value of Nearshoring and another crowd that really has almost no idea what goes on south of Texas.
My observation is absolutely not to condemn the second group, which for our purposes we will call the “Blank Slates.” Who can blame them? The Nearshore sourcing community – at first glance – may appear to be a fragmented federation of nations and service providers that just don’t fit neatly into a category. For the Blank Slates, the convenient off-the-cuff classification is that the provider marketplace in Latin America and the Caribbean is not mature enough.
Nearshore Americas will be on site and blogging live from the prestigious Sourcing Interests Group Global Sourcing Summit this week in Savannah.
We look forward to deeper conversations about the growing appeal of Latin America outsourcing as part of a larger global sourcing portfolio strategy. The folks at SIG work hard to create a ‘non-commercial’ atmosphere at the SIG event, which is a polite way of saying that content, networking and education geared to attendees’ real needs are what will dominate the conference.
Sourcing Interests Group members are senior-level executives at Global 1000 companies. Member titles include CEOs, CFOs, CPOs, COOs, CIOs, presidents, vice presidents, directors, and senior analysts and managers. It’s not too late to register for the event.
Are you a regular reader of Nearshore Americas and planning to attend? Let us know and drop a line to: kirk@nextcoastmedia.com
