The Determine

Blog

A Corcentric Company.

Conversation with Reginald Peterson, Director of Supply Management Programs at Corcentric.

If you have been working under the assumption that digital transformation will solve all of your problems and catapult your company into leadership status, consider this: an email with an invoice attached to it is “digital.” That invoice still has to be manually sent, received and entered into another system for approval and payment. Despite being digital, this invoicing process is labor intensive, risky and inefficient. Hardly transformative, is it?

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Determine OutLoud: The Evolved CFO on Procurement — Part two of a conversation with Mark Joyce, EVP and CFO of Corcentric.

In a continuation of our discussion with Corcentric EVP and CFO Mark Joyce, we leave our focus on how the CFO role has changed in the digital age and we pick up the very popular topic of how finance and procurement can work together better. Continue Reading

Determine OutLoud: A two-part conversation with Mark Joyce, EVP and CFO of Corcentric.

In a recently released article and podcast about the evolving role of the CFO, McKinsey & Co. partner Ankur Agrawal and consultant Priyanka Prakash shine an interesting light on enterprise-wide change management in the digital age — from the perspective of finance. Of particular note are the number and range of corporate functions reporting into finance today, and how that shifting scope of responsibilities can stress a CFO’s bandwidth while also increasing their net impact.

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An Outsider’s Perspective on Implementing Technology.

I’ve participated in many procurement technology implementations – and not always in the same role. Like most people, my experience began on the receiving end of new technology for which I had no say in the selection or configuration. From there I moved to a leadership role on a team tasked with selecting and implementing a sourcing suite for the first time. A few years later, I was part of a consulting team at a solution provider where I regularly assisted in or led implementations as part of procurement program (re)design projects.

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The heat was on in July, so we focused on helping you keep your cool when it comes to procurement technology with our P2P Starter Kit. Regardless of where your organization is on the procurement maturity curve, or what your comfort level regarding procurement solutions, our toolkit is designed to make sure you have the basics down, the facts in hand and everyone’s expectations properly managed. So you’re cool with this, right?

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You’ve heard the phrase “back to basics” countless times. And it’s an incredibly misleading message: That basics somehow equates with “regressing.” Nothing could be further from the truth. Honing your basic skills and knowledge is about improving, moving forward, excelling. Ask any top musician, athlete or craftsperson — basics make you better.

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Determine OutLoud: A conversation with Anthony Mignogna, Director at Source One, a Corcentric company.

Attend any procurement conference, read any procurement blog, download any procurement whitepaper these days and what are you likely to see and hear? AI! Blockchain! Machine learning! Chatbots! Emerging technology is undoubtedly exciting, and it is no wonder that it captures our attention and imagination. But does it have any actionable value for the majority of procurement organizations today?

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We’ve all heard (or used) the expression that managing some groups of people is “like herding cats”. For cat people in the reading audience, this requires little explanation. Cats do what they want, when they want, only if they want. The expression wouldn’t have caught on if it weren’t true, which means there are plenty of feline humans out there too. If you’re in procurement, I’m sure you’ve met quite a few of them.

We put a contract in place, and the “cats” buy from someone else. We establish a process, and they do whatever they like. It can be infuriating. But, if we approach our internal cats with the right attitude, they also present us with unique opportunities to improve procurement’s performance, impact and influence.

Here is some advice for those days when you find yourself unavoidably herding cats:

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The NBA finals are upon us. Is it luck? Or have the Raptors and the Warriors made it this far by building a framework for success; utilizing each player’s strengths and abilities to give them a competitive edge above the rest? We say it’s a framework for success – which is exactly what it takes for a supplier management strategy to work, too. From covering the basic fundamentals to ensuring you’re prepared for any and every potential supplier risk, maximizing the competitive advantage you can achieve with the right approach to supplier management helps the entire organization win.

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Executives in all functions and lines of business are driven to create shareholder value, a challenge that increasingly requires them to take calculated risks that often involve the supply chain. From a shareholder’s perspective, nothing destroys the perceived value of an investment faster than negative press, even when it is the unintended result of ‘pushing boundaries’. In some cases, the criticism may not even be due to a company’s own actions, but rather those of their suppliers (or suppliers’ suppliers).

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