Future-proof your firm’s supply chains with a renewed focus on resilience In Strong Supply Chains Through Resilient Operations: Five Principles for Leaders to Win in a Volatile World, a team of dedicated, veteran operations strategists delivers a practical and hands-on discussion of how to future-proof your company’s supply chains through a relentless focus on resilience. In the book, you’ll discover how to shift your firm’s emphasis from “low-cost” to “low volatility” as you protect your company against the supply and demand shocks associated pandemics, wars, labor disputes, and trade conflicts. You’ll also learn about: Real-world examples of companies realizing long-term competitive advantage by implementing the shifts advocated by the authors Why seeking to build mutually beneficial, long-term relationships with dependable suppliers is preferable to always choosing the cheapest option How a renewed focus on diversity and new ways of working can create resilient operations teams that pass on value to your customers An effective and essential discussion of one of the most prominent challenges facing contemporary companies around the world, Strong Supply Chains Through Resilient Operations is a need-to-read book for managers, executives, business leaders, entrepreneurs, operations and supply chain professionals, and anyone else with a stake in the smooth operation of their firm.

There's a new buzz phrase in the air: Supplier Relationship Management (SRM). Corporate executives know it's necessary, but there's only one problem. Nobody yet knows how to do it. Or they think it's all about bashing your vendors over the head until they reduce the price another 4%. Supplier Relationship Management: How to Maximize Vendor Value and Opportunity changes all that. Containing the best and most innovative advice from the operations and procurement experts at consultant AT Kearney, this book shows that SRM is at root a strategic discussion requiring cross-functional interaction and internal alignment at the highest levels. It requires an honest appraisal of the value that suppliers now bring to your firm, as well as their potential value. It then requires a frank and constructive business-to-business dialogue about how to improve the relationship. When this happens, a company reaps myriad benefits, ranging from new opportunity to added value to competitive advantage-and, quite likely, to overall (and sometimes substantial) cost reductions. This book shows the most concrete methods you can use today to: Identify value-adding opportunities in the supply chain Work closely with suppliers to maximize the benefits Work the "Critical Cluster" of suppliers, where the greatest opportunity for advantage lies Review suppliers to encourage constant gains in quality and cost Turn your SRM strategy into a major competitive advantage Supplier Relationship Management introduces and explains the Supplier Interaction Model, a key tool that will help you get the most from your supplier relationships. It segments the supplier universe into nine categories, from those you want to run away from fast to those so good and so useful to your organization that it can make sense to invest in them directly. Numerous case studies show how to apply the principles to your situation. Supplier Relationship Management burns off the fog that has surrounded the procurement process for far too long. It is the definitive guide for business executives who want to get the maximum benefits from suppliers and gain very real advantages over competitors.

In the novel The CPO: Transforming Procurement in the Real World, we meet Thomas Sutter, a German-American living in Dusseldorf and working as a procurement manager for a major global automobile manufacturer, Autowerke. On a chance encounter while flying to Chicago, he meets the CEO of Heartland, a major food company in the U.S. Sutter impresses the CEO with his knowledge and, after a whirlwind courtship, he joins Heartland as its new Chief Procurement Officer, based in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Hired to transform procurement at Heartland, Sutter has an enormous challenge: to bring its procurement practices into the 21st century and save the company $5 billion. Despite the knowledge and experience he gained at Autowerke, Sutter fights over the next 18 months to find his place at Heartland, institute world-class procurement models and methods, win over the procurement teams and senior executives, and meet his goal. At first, his reputation--and his marriage--suffer, along with the company's overall sales and revenue. Can he pull a rabbit out of the hat?The CPO: Transforming Procurement depicts the real-life challenges of transforming procurement, while demonstrating the benefits of innovative procurement and leadership methods. Written by global thought leaders in A.T. Kearney's procurement and supply management practice--consultants who have helped numerous companies chop billions of dollars in costs out of their procurement budgets--The CPO will prove invaluable for those in purchasing and procurement. It will also present essential information to those in the C suite looking for ways to boost profits and productivity. The CPO: * Portrays best-in-class, real-life, actionable methods to turn procurement into a function that can save billions and improve the bottom line. * Provides a fun way to learn essential lessons in procurement and change management. * Shows how rejecting victimhood in all its aspects leads to personal and business success. * Presents lessons in novel format--like The Goal, Who Moved My Cheese, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, and others--to engage you and show techniques in action.What you'll learn * World-class methods and techniques for transforming the procurement function into a productivity powerhouse that directly and significantly contributes to improving the bottom line. * Insights into assessing the procurement and supply chain management organization and locating the levers for change. * How to calculate the return on supply management assets and understand supply and demand dynamics in the context of procurement. * Principles of leadership and change management: Finding and shuffling talent to effect change, making the case for change, mobilizing and motivating people, and training workers at all levels to think and act in new and useful ways. * The tools of transformation: employing circles of influence, rejecting victimhood, creating a plan to succeed, and more. Who this book is for The CPO is a book for ambitious buyers, procurement managers, and C-level executives.CEOs will read it to have an understanding of how procurement transformation supports the strategic goals of the company, CFOs will read it to know what the return on procurement transformation could be, CPOs will read it to learn new methods and metrics and how to put them into profitable practices. It's also for those who want to enjoy a good book while learning how to transform their private lives along with their careers and the companies they work for. Table of Contents44 chapters--titles to come.

The bestselling Purchasing Chessboard (R) concept, used by hundreds of corporations worldwide to reduce costs and increase value with suppliers, is the topic of this successful professional book now published in its third edition. The 64 squares on the Purchasing Chessboard provide a wealth of methods that can be applied either individually or in combination. And because many of these methods are not customarily used by procurement, the Purchasing Chessboard is also the perfect tool for helping procurement professionals to think and act outside the box and find new solutions. A well tested concept that works across all industries and all categories in any given situation, it is little wonder that business leaders and procurement professionals alike are excited by, and enjoy strategizing around, the Purchasing Chessboard. It encourages greater rigor and creativity and the building of world class capabilities. The explosive growth in analytics and the rise in the number of specialists in procurement practice have taken the application of the Purchasing Chessboard to new levels. This third edition of the book includes a rich assortment of case examples to reflect the lessons learned across geographies and industries. Some of the chapters have also been updated to accurately reflect these trends.

The book International Mergers and Acquisitions is an anthology that combines scientifically substantiated articles and practical experiences to a synthesis. Different points of view based on scientific research, business administration and corporate law provide the reader a holistic perception - continuative to the existing standard literature. Selected articles from and for scientific research and economy focus on topics, which are only addressed marginally in existing books. International experts were invited to highlight new perspectives and perceptions in international M&A processes. Therefore the articles deal with M&A activities in the new EU member states, Eastern Europe and Asia, legal aspects, break-up fees and corporate lock-ups as well as brands in M&A and IT aspects.

Disruptive Procurement is a radical new approach to creating value and innovation by challenging the status quo in the entire product and service line. It requires going far beyond conventional desktop procurement to understand the value the company brings to its customers as well as the value that suppliers bring to the company. By combining knowledge of these two dimensions, companies become far more flexible and they move closer to disrupting the environment in ways that create value. To move toward Disruptive Procurement, companies need a holistic view and a complete new set of capabilities for staff in marketing, sales, R&D, manufacturing, innovation, and, of course, procurement. This will only happen if procurement is fully backed by the Chief Executive Officer and companies embrace digital tools that will help make procurement slimmer and smarter.

The book International Mergers and Acquisitions is an anthology that combines scientifically substantiated articles and practical experiences to a synthesis. Different points of view based on scientific research, business administration and corporate law provide the reader a holistic perception - continuative to the existing standard literature. Selected articles from and for scientific research and economy focus on topics, which are only addressed marginally in existing books. International experts were invited to highlight new perspectives and perceptions in international M&A processes. Therefore the articles deal with M&A activities in the new EU member states, Eastern Europe and Asia, legal aspects, break-up fees and corporate lock-ups as well as brands in M&A and IT aspects.