The Successful Manager: Create Strategic Alliances

To develop a better understanding of your organization's goals, consider using this approach to learn about your organization's corporate strategy:
Talk with people who were involved with setting goals to learn about the options that were discussed and the reasoning behind why they were chosen.

• Talk with leaders in the organization to develop an understanding of the organization's approach to its strategy, and the reasons for that choice.
• Meet with an experienced manager and learn the organization's history, the evolution of the company's mission, and the origin of the company's strengths and weaknesses.
• Read articles about your company as well as recent executive briefings to security analysts.
• Develop contacts in other departments to learn about their strategic issues and new developments.

Organizational strategy is not static. It's essential to constantly scan the environment to understand changes that may change your organization's strategy. Research the latest developments in your industry - talk with people, read industry reports.

Some common forces of change:

• Industry Changes
• Globalization
• Technology Changes
• Shifts in Competitive Advantage
• Human Capital Changes
• Government Regulations; either new or ending

The purpose of having a strategy is to help keep an eye on the ball. Use it to decide where to spend your time and energy and to stay focused on what's important. Evaluate decisions to ensure that they adhere to your strategy. Unless you are at the top of the organization, the corporate direction is set by others, then your role is to bring the corporate vision down to the next level.

Your group's strategy needs to be an evolving guide to what you and your team do.

Adapted from The Successful Manager's Handbook, by Lisa A. Stevens, Carol J. Skibe, and David G. Lee,  Personnel Decisions, Inc.; 6th edition (May 2000)

The Top Ten Procurement Changes in the Last Decade

10. ERPs Proliferated. Today, eProcurement and eSourcing are two of the most useful tools in purchasing. Ten years ago, these terms were unknown.

9. "Procurement" replaced "Purchasing". Ten years ago, even top purchasing departments processed purchase orders. Today, procurement departments centralize the supplier selection process, not the transactions, which are delegated to end users or outsourced.

8. Procurement Controls More Spend. When procurement deliver results, management seeks more spend that they can positively impact. Once sourced by other departments, categories like fleet management, benefits, and travel services are now sourced by procurement.

7. Social Responsibility Became A Top Priority. Whether for philanthropy or to avoid media scandals, management counts on procurement more than ever to buy from diverse suppliers, make environmentally-conscious decisions, and do business ethically.

6. Measurement Was Mandated. With the potential of smart purchasing widely known, senior management more strictly holds their procurement professionals accountable for results. The use of procurement KPIs and dashboards is now the norm.

5. Strategic Sourcing became an Internal Process. In the past, strategic sourcing was done mostly by consulting firms hired to help companies reduce spend. Today, many companies have their own refined and documented in-house strategic sourcing processes.

4. Vendor Roles Expanded. In 1998, there was talk about "partnering" with vendors. Today, there's action. Top procurement departments actively develop their vendors and look to their supply base for ideas, performance, and innovation.

3. Global Sourcing Went Mainstream. Ten years ago, only the progressive companies were searching abroad for suppliers. Now, in some countries, it is difficult to find products manufactured domestically.

2. The CPO Position Was Adopted. There is a growing number of professionals with the title "Chief Procurement Officer."

1. The Supply Chain Was Recognized. In the last decade, companies more closely analyzed the way material flows into, through, and out of the organization. This "supply chain" focus has those who once just placed orders now responsible for inventory, warehousing, outbound logistics, and distribution.

Adapted from: Top 10 Purchasing Changes In 10 Years. http://bit.ly/cfPJKj

Why Emotional Intelligence Matters more than IQ in Business

IQ has long been considered the key measure of a person's ability.  However, studies have shown that having a high IQ is not a good predictor of success in life or in the business world.  It is thought that IQ contributes about 20 percent to life success leaving 80 percent attributable to other factors such as emotional intelligence.

Emotional intelligence includes abilities such as being able to motivate oneself; to persist in the face of difficulties; to control impulsiveness and delay gratification; to regulate one's mood so as to keep emotions from blocking the ability to think; and to be able to empathize and to hope.

There is a cost to the corporate bottom line from low levels of emotional intelligence on the job. The consequences for a work group can be severe if a member or leader keeps exploding in anger, or has no sensitivity to the feelings of others.  Emotionally upset people cannot remember, attend, learn, or make decisions clearly.

On the flip side, there are clear benefits to working in a group whose members are skilled in emotional intelligence.  They would be attuned to the feelings of others, able to handle disagreements so they do not escalate, and have the ability to get into flow states while working.

The Six Laws of Persuasion

Persuasion is the ability to influence people's thoughts and actions through the use of specific strategies.  Getting what you want in life will require negotiation with a variety of people and the use of communication skills such as active listening and attention to non-verbal cues. Mastering the persuasion process will enable you to create the attitude change necessary for persuading others to agree with your line of thinking. You must be able to sell your ideas, and in a win-win situation, provide the other side with a fair deal.

To become skilled at persuasion, you need to know more; you must understand the the Laws of Persuasion. Psychologist Robert Cialdini described the six laws of persuasion in his book, Influence:The Psychology of Persuasion. He discusses the prevalent methods of marketing, and how by understanding persuasion laws, you can control how much marketers unduly influence you, as well as how to use these laws to your benefit during negotiations.

Cialdini’s Six Laws of Persuasion:

1. Law of Reciprocity  People try to repay what others provide them. Small favors bring on a sense of obligation. People feel compelled to “return the favor.” If someone gives you something you want, then you will wish to reciprocate because you now feel obligated. In negotiation, limited disclosure of the real reason for a stance, such as "this is all the money we have" can induce a concession from the other party.

The Future of Procurement: 2020: Data Predicts the Future

Procurement data analysis has thus far focussed on historical information. In the future, procurement will be able to focus on more forward-looking analyses that are predictive. This will allow procurement to determine ahead of time where supplier defects are most likely to occur, and which parts of a supplier's processes are most likely to negatively affect the end-user.

Predictive information is already used by on-line communities such as eBay and Amazon. This information tells us how a seller is likely to behave based onPTAst behavior and which books we are likely to enjoy, based on the choices of others who share our likes.

Adapted from VISION 2020: Ideas for Procurement in 2020 by Industry Leading Procurement Executives http://bit.ly/kIwoW3

The Future of Procurement: 2020: Communities Collaborate

It's happening already. End - users and sellers are connecting online, allowing them to communicate and collaborate.

Procurement's role in the future will be to break down barriers between their internal customers and the vendors who sell the goods and products they use. Procurement will need to develop the kinds of contractual environments that will allow these collaborations to be successful, so that they meet the requirements of legal, audit, and finance.

Technology makes collaboration easier, and confidential information can be shared securely. But people wil lstill need to meet in person. And procurement will no longer need to fill a role as an information intermediary; customer's requirements will flow directly from end-users directly to the suppliers who sell to them.

Adapted from VISION 2020: Ideas for Procurement in 2020 by Industry Leading Procurement Executives http://bit.ly/kIwoW3

The Future of Procurement: 2020: Work goes Mobile

New technologies in computing, particularly in smart phones, means that one can actively engage with people in the field or across the globe. What this should mean in the future is that more people are involved in projects than is the case now, as barriers of distance will be reduced.

Managers will be able to approve purchase orders, or check the status of auctions or invoices from smart phones, tablets, or other devices not yet in existence. As more work is done from the field, better intelligence will be brought into critical supply management and sourcing processes as well as data gathering and analysis exercises. This will lead to better, faster decisions.

Adapted from VISION 2020: Ideas for Procurement in 2020 by Industry Leading Procurement Executives http://bit.ly/kIwoW3