AOP Linkfest: Are Suppliers Faceless Entities?

Happy Saturday!

If you are like me, you probably couldn’t move for Brexit related procurement articles this week!  Rather than link to a bunch of articles talking about what it means, I came across some personal stories that I thought I would share instead. Before I do that however, here is my Brexit free zone:

• Mike Robertson of POD Procurement asks Are Suppliers Faceless Entities? Mike asks if the terminology we use when labelling the suppliers we interact with has an impact on how they view their relationships with us.  (My two cents: please please stop using the term “vendor” for any supplier you ever want to have a long term relationship with!)

• Love e-Tender: Modernizing and Streamlining the Procurement System by Marianne Merten of the Daily Maverick takes a look at the work that South Africa’s Chief Procurement Officer Kenneth Brown is leading to reduce corruption and overcharging, and bring transparency to public procurement through a procurement transformation program.

• In Navigating Rules Based Cultures, Tom Verghese of Cultural Synergies reminds us that we have to be cognizant of the cultures of our business partners.  This is something that is easy to forget – particularly when faced with a fire that needs to be extinguished – but it really is critical to remember if we want to be successful at building cross-cultural supplier relationships.

• (Pro-Remain): Brexit: The Bulldog’s Lonely Bark by Jamie Liddell of Outsource Magazine.
• (Pro-Leave): Brexit: Why I Voted to Leave by Mike Robertson of POD Procurement.
• (Pro-Remain): Brexit: He’s Misstra Know-It-All by Gerard Chick of Optimum Procurement.
• (Neutral): Why Brexit is an Opportunity of a Lifetime by Lance Mercereau of Rosslyn Analytics

Have a great weekend!

Phil