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Procurement Strategy & Transformation

The Peter Principle: Are You Where You Ought To Be?

The Peter Principle claims clueless worker

“You will see that in every hierarchy the cream rises until it sours.” Laurence J Peter A previous article of mine, Procurement in the Roaring ‘20s, drew some interesting comments. Several focused on executive incompetence, with one commenter citing the Peter Principle as an explanation. So, what is the Peter…
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Indirect Spend: 6 Ways to Tackle It

Tackle your Indirect Spend

Indirect spend shares the fate of many a New Year’s Resolution. We make promises to tackle it head on and then abandon it at the first sign of difficulty. It’s tempting to put it in the too hard basket, but ignoring it could very well be doing you terminal damage….
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Procurement in the Roaring ’20s

Procurement 2020

“May you live in interesting times”. A blessing or a curse? Perhaps that’s something to be determined in hindsight but, right now, it’s looking like 2020 will be an interesting year. At least. It has certainly started on fire, with significant parts of Australia in flames. At multiple fire fronts,…
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Cleaning Up Our Supply Chains

Hidden Abuses in Supply Chains

Right now, there are five slaves working for you around the world. That’s according to some estimates. Some have the number higher. It’s sobering reading, and a dampening note to begin the new year with. Before you click away, however, this article isn’t just doom and gloom. I want to…
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Procurement and Climate Change

Procurement Climate Change

Embracing Change in a New World Not much happens in this world without the process of procurement having an impact. It’s the omnipresent reality of a global economy driven by desire and consumption, and can be a powerful weapon for beneficial change, or untold misery. We touched on this in…
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The Supply Chain: We Change or We Burn

The Supply Chain Management

Proverbs and Anecdotes When I was asked to contribute to the Barrett 2020 Sales Trends Report, the invitation posed a question: “With everything we need for positive change and progress available to us now, why wait for a crisis to secure our future?” Immediately, all the proverbs warning against change…
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The Holy Trinity of Procurement Skills

Procurement Skills Assessment

There’s a joke among engineers that new grads lament not taking more maths subjects during their degree but, as they progress, rue not improving their communication skills. Procurement professionals don’t have the luxury of hindsight. From day one, our ‘soft skills’ make or break us. According to the Ikaros community, the…
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How could the $40million NAB Executive fraud been avoided?

Forty million! That is how much an ex-NAB executive was able to defraud from the bank before being detected. What would happen to your business if you lost even a fraction of that kind of money? Trust is important in a business. But so is vigilance against untrustworthy people. People…
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Three Startups on a quest to change how we procure

Blockchain-Based Procurement Start-Ups

Cryptocurrencies are back in the news, but not for the right reasons. Crypto prices have crashed; people have lost money. The critics are gleeful, while supporters urge faith. So it would seem that no, we won’t be procuring goods and services up and down the supply chain using Bitcoin just…
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Trust me I am in procurement

Trust Me I Am In Procurement

What does it mean to trust someone? It certainly does not mean that we know everything about them. Indeed, after a certain point, further information is meaningless.  Studies have shown that once an impression is made, new facts don’t necessarily trigger a reassessment. If our trust is formed based on…
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Comprara acknowledges the traditional Aboriginal owners of country, recognises their continuing connection to land, water and community and pays respect to Elders past, present and future.