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

Today’s guest post is from Anne Kohler, Executive Vice President and COO of The Mpower Group (TMG) and a contributor to the News U Can Use TMG blog. Over the past year, as the economy has worsened and companies are being squeezed financially, we have heard the following from extremely frustrated clients and prospects (most of which are in Supply Chain or Sourcing):

Achieve Exceptional Business Results – Buy a Vowel(s)!!!

By Anne Kohler on September 9, 2010 Blog-News U can Use, Next Practices, Sourcing

Today’s guest post is from Anne Kohler, Executive Vice President and COO of The Mpower Group (TMG) and a contributor to the News U Can Use TMG blog.

Over the past year, as the economy has worsened and companies are being squeezed financially, we have heard the following from extremely frustrated clients and prospects (most of which are in Supply Chain or Sourcing):

Today’s guest post is from Dalip Raheja, President and CEO of The Mpower Group (TMG) and a contributor to the News U Can Use TMG blog. This blog entry marks the beginning of a series that will explore ways that Strategic Sourcing and Supply Chain Management can be used to effectively drive competitive differentiation. Here at TMG we believe that these functions are among the most value-laden (and consequently possess the greatest potential for value creation) across industries. Companies that figure out how to unleash the value trapped along the supply chain will drive exceptional business results over the long-term. The problem holding most companies back in this area is that the best practices they follow are highly tactical in nature, and by definition conservative in nature. Think about it; how can anyone drive truly EXCEPTIONAL results doing the same thing that everyone else is doing (that's what a best practice is after all!!!)

Next Practices – The Series for Creating Exceptional Business Results

By Dalip Raheja on September 2, 2010 Blog-News U can Use, Next Practices, Sourcing

Today’s guest post is from Dalip Raheja, President and CEO of The Mpower Group (TMG) and a contributor to the News U Can Use TMG blog.

This blog entry marks the beginning of a series that will explore ways that Strategic Sourcing and Supply Chain Management can be used to effectively drive competitive differentiation. Here at TMG we believe that these functions are among the most value-laden (and consequently possess the greatest potential for value creation) across industries. Companies that figure out how to unleash the value trapped along the supply chain will drive exceptional business results over the long-term. The problem holding most companies back in this area is that the best practices they follow are highly tactical in nature, and by definition conservative in nature. Think about it; how can anyone drive truly EXCEPTIONAL results doing the same thing that everyone else is doing (that’s what a best practice is after all!!!)

Join Dalip Raheja, CEO for The Mpower Group, for this webinar as he examines the underlying reasons that a Total Cost of Ownership approach to procurement will NEVER yield exceptional business results. Date: Friday, September 17, 2010 Time: 12:00 p.m. CDT

TCO has Failed! Value Maximization is the "Next" Practice Webinar

By Dalip Raheja on September 2, 2010 Blog-News U can Use, Sourcing, Supply Chain

Date: Friday, September 17, 2010
Time: 12:00 p.m. CDT

Adoption , AEIOU

Old MacDonald Was Right — It Is About E-I-E-I-O!

By Dalip Raheja on August 25, 2010 Blog-News U can Use, Sourcing

Re-posted from Sourcing Innovation
Today’s guest post is from Dalip Raheja, President and CEO of The Mpower Group (TMG) and a contributor to the News U Can Use TMG blog.

Most of us missed it. They were trying to tell us about it when we werevery young. We were not even in nursery school yet! It’s all aboutthe vowels. It’s not about Old MacDonald’s farm, his pigs or hens or any of that … it’s about E-I-E-I-O! Now what do vowels have to dowith Sourcing and Supply Chain Management you might be wondering? Well, as it turns out … everything! The vowels are the most critical link between our alphabet and our language. Without vowels we don’t have words … we just have letters! Without words, we have no sentences, no language, no meaning, no intelligence — in short, we have nothing! And so it is in our organizations.

Re-posted from Sourcing Innovation Today's guest post is from Dalip Raheja, President and CEO of The Mpower Group (TMG) and a contributor to the News U Can Use TMG blog. As we pointed out in our last post (where we killed off the old sourcing process), Strategic Sourcing has always been fundamentally flawed. It clearly did not deliver the promised results years ago and it isn't delivering the right results today. Furthermore, I would argue that the results that Strategic Sourcing is delivering may not be totally accurate because the unintended consequences that the function creates (more on this later) may actually destroy value. The current process is penny wise and pound foolish. That's never a strategy for long term success. What we need is a new way of looking at this function. We need a set of next practices to elevate us beyond what current best practices recommend.

The Sourcing Emperor Has No Clothes!

By Dalip Raheja on August 25, 2010 Blog-News U can Use, Sourcing

Re-posted from Sourcing Innovation
Today’s guest post is from Dalip Raheja, President and CEO of The Mpower Group (TMG) and a contributor to the News U Can Use TMG blog.

As we pointed out in our last post (where we killed off the old sourcing process), Strategic Sourcing has always been fundamentally flawed. It clearly did not deliver the promised results years ago and it isn’t delivering the right results today. Furthermore, I would argue that the results that Strategic Sourcing is delivering may not be totally accurate because the unintended consequences that the function creates (more on this later) may actually destroy value. The current process is penny wise and pound foolish. That’s never a strategy for long term success. What we need is a new way of looking at this function. We need a set of next practices to elevate us beyond what current best practices recommend.