Mediacenter

How Procurement Can Deliver More Effective Agency Compensation By Al Roehl, President StepAhead Consultancy There has been a lot written about agency compensation. Most of it deals with trends, the pros and cons of different types of agency compensation systems, principles or best practices. The briefing provides a “How To” roadmap for understanding and getting to a more effective “fee based” deal (as opposed to media commissions) with your agencies. This “How To” guide is based on the knowledge generated from applying best practice behaviors (and avoiding destructive ones) to hundreds of agency and client compensation agreements across many different client types, agency types, deal structures, and geographies representing both clients and agencies.

Benchmark White Paper: Energy and Utility Procurement Utility bills are in the top 5 categories of spending for many companies. The following report provides tangible benchmark information that will help you in developing a more strategic approach to managing energy to drive savings. Topics for discussion and takeaways include: How to approach energy procurement and management based on your organization's energy needs? Is it beneficial to engage third parties in managing utility bill payments and auditing your energy programs? Considerations to tackle the enrgy demand side as well as supply to drive savings.

White Paper: Broadening the CPO Mandate Through Procurement BPO In every discussion we have regarding extending the scope of procurement’s responsibility, chief procurement officers (CPOs) face the same three questions: How will your customers and procurement staff collaborate? Do your procurement professionals have sufficient category expertise to add value? Are there enough skilled procurement professionals within the team to handle the volume of buying? Until recently, the answers to these questions have been routine: policy, process, technology, hiring, and training. However, the reality of execution is more complex.

An Emptoris and ProcureCon white paper “If you’re not leveraging your supplier’s resources, your competition is,” says Bob Hellem, VP, Indirect Procurement, ConAgra Foods Inc. His point is just one of the many topics discussed in the exclusive ProcureCon/Emptoris whitepaper below, which outlines the elements that will continue to define the procurement professional of the future. As Hellem states, one very important distinction of today and tomorrow’s procurement professional is the fact that s/he must understand how to get more out of the supplier than a quote. The whitepaper was compiled from a VIP luncheon organized by ProcureCon and hosted by Emptoris, which brought together procurement officers from companies like Boeing, Cushman & Wakefield, Paramount Pictures, The Home Depot and more. Additional topics and trends outlined in this whitepaper include: The evolving skill sets of procurement professionals A different, holistic approach to growth Potential for internal departmental rotation How to deal with the growing trend of employees changing jobs every two yearsDownload the whitepaper to find out how the procurement professional will continue to change and what you must know to keep up.

ProcureCon's Generation X & Y Benchmark Study provides compelling insights to the charachteristic dynamics of the two groups, of their interaction with the baby boomers and draws, often surprising, conclusions of how these interactions work. Compiled in consultation with the ProcureCon Advisory Board, Jeff Ariz (PG&E) and Julianne Nachtrab (Agile-1) by Carina Kuhl (ProcureCon).

One of the most challenging aspects of managing the spend of a conglomerate like Volvo is making sure that the company stays ahead of the game with initiatives centered around cost reduction and revenue generation. “We’re not just out there trying to reduce, to contain, or trying to avoid cost anymore,” says Randy Clark, Senior Strategic Buyer, Segment Owner-Operating Fluids, Volvo Group. “We’re out there trying to create supply chains that bring revenue to the table.” But it's only one of the many elements dealt with when attempting to deliver as a successful procurement professional, a challenging but important piece that more and more global corporations are grappling with. Clarke sees a need for consistent dialogue with marketers, the ability make adjustments and improve on marketing spend and conversely, learn from the team to make sure that the money invested in the strategy is money well spent. In Part I of our two-part Q&A, Clark explains how investing in a good marketing spend strategy today will increase your companies’ revenue tomorrow. Stay tuned for Part II, where he discusses the technology used to achieve the ROI you’ve been looking for as a procurement pro in 2013.

Author: Peter Friedman Social media marketing for companies in regulated industries poses special challenges – challenges such companies can, and should, face if they wish to remain competitive. Drawing on our experience at LiveWorld, working with major brands in the pharmaceutical and financial sectors, in this article you will read some of the best practices to create highly engaging social conversations at scale while minimizing legal risk. Click on the image to download the white paper.