What's in your Pocket?

By Paul Sarjeant

Whenever I drop Spend Management into conversation (which is probably more often than you think), those that don’t stare blankly back at me usually understand it to mean what BravoSolution define as:

“the collection of detailed data extracts from finance and procurement systems, the cleansing and enrichment of this data, followed by the classification of suppliers and items into relevant spend categories.”

"You Mean Buying?"

By Sarah Kingdom-Evans

...One of our blog posts last week (So, what do you do?) made me smile, as I recognised many of the responses to “I’m in Procurement”. However, more importantly it reminded me of the need for us to have an ‘Elevator speech’ which, as you know should be the ability to summarise what we do in a short time.

What Does Procurement Maturity Do For Your Business?

by Mickey North Rizza

Procurement maturity. Yes, for some businesses this is an oxymoron, but at most, when the Procurement Organisation has become more mature, so does the value contribution and increased financial performance.

"So, what do you do?" - 10 Reactions Procurement Professionals Often Receive

by Aleiya Lonsdale

We’ve all been there... you've managed to avoid it for as long as possible by steering the conversation and keeping it about other people, but eventually it arrives; that dreaded moment at  a dinner party when it’s your turn to answer that fear-instilling question; “So, what do you do?”

The Journey towards Excellence Starts with CHANGE

by Mickey North Rizza

The journey towards excellence is fraught with many challenges: organisational structure, technology, business process, talent, performance, etc.  Challenges are the norm on a journey, as is change.  However, change is the most ignored requirement for the journey.  Changing the way you think, the way you view challenges and embracing the flip side of change opportunity – is what makes the journey more enjoyable.  Staying focused on the successes along the way, the great outcomes that are just over the horizon vs. the struggle and grind of the daily issues focuses a team on winning, rather than just getting by.  Attitude is everything, as Jeff Keller noted in his book of the same name. Changing your attitude – the way you think and look at the world – can bring greater returns to you and your business.

Procurement Savings Targets VS Diversity and SME Spend

By Pavel Ollitervo-Murphy

After few months in the company I was kindly nominated by Richard to produce an article for our blog. This gave me an opportunity to raise a topic that has been in my mind for the past 18 months. How to cope with two sets of targets that appear to conflict? Is there a way to transform these challenges into opportunities that could yield additional benefits?

What’s in a Name? There is only one Hull City/Tigers* (*delete as appropriate)

By Steven Low

My mum almost called me Hamish..  I have my big sister to thank for not letting that happen and I can be mildly content with my overtly-popular 70/80’s first-name.  Everyone pretty much has a name whether they like it or not.  Same as every company has a name and subsequent image/reputation that the name conjures up.  Again, some companies like it and some don’t.

Evaluating Bids and Tenders

By Matthew Gradidge

Last week we hosted our second event in the Real World Sourcing Series: “Evaluating Bids and Tenders” lead by Spend Matters’ Peter Smith. Procurement professionals attended from various industries, sharing real world experiences of choosing the “right” suppliers.

Russian Sanctions - Part 2

By Richard Hogg

Following on from part 1, when I ended up sharing a bed with a client, we continue to look at the theme of sanctions...