A Category Management Blog — A Community of Practice devoted to ideas that you can use

I have long been a proponent of hiring interns. We actually have two working for The Mpower Group this summer, Kevin (entering Notre Dame in the fall) and Allison (entering Boston College in the fall). You will hear from each of them this summer as we are requiring them to write a blog post for us (they are scared to death by the way, which is great :) ). There are so many benefits for both the intern and the hiring company, one of which is an increase in competency.

Score One for the Interns and Two for Us!

By Anne Kohler on June 27, 2013 Blog-News U can Use, Supply Chain

I have long been a proponent of hiring interns. We actually have two working for The Mpower Group this summer, Kevin (entering Notre Dame in the fall) and Allison (entering Boston College in the fall). You will hear from each of them this summer as we are requiring them to write a blog post for us (they are scared to death by the way, which is great 🙂 ). There are so many benefits for both the intern and the hiring company, one of which is an increase in competency.

Thanks, but we will not be responding to your RFP…..

By Dalip Raheja on June 20, 2013 Blog-News U can Use, Next Practices

We have always felt that the goal of any sourcing process MUST be to select the best supplier possible and develop a relationship that will drive mutual value creation – it’s not to find the cheapest supplier. Unfortunately, most sourcing processes and related technologies absolutely reverse the priorities.

As we are working “in the weeds”, every day, we often lose sight of how critical our function is. We, at The Mpower Group, do a lot of Strategic Sourcing and Supply Chain Management training as one of our service offerings because WE KNOW the value of a strong Supply Chain. I guess it has just taken the rest of the world a little time to catch up . . . . . .

Supply Chain Management – A Hot NEW Discipline?

By Anne Kohler on June 13, 2013 Blog-News U can Use

Bagpipes and Business

By Jim Livingston on June 6, 2013 Blog-News U can Use, Miscellaneous

When not focused on my work with The Mpower Group, I spend some of my time learning and playing the bagpipes. When I share this with people, they usually have many questions about the pipes. But, I think the similarities between playing the bagpipes and working with businesses…

Let’s do a hypothetical test. You are in a room with 5 other colleagues from your company and you are all involved in implementing the latest S&OP software(or any new process or tool or initiative) and I asked your team to come up with the top 10 issues and challenges that you have faced. Now let’s assume that run a similar exercise with five other companies and with five other teams working on a similar initiative. What do you think will be the result? Will the lists be the same? Totally different?