
Can SupplierPay Link Supplier Diversity to Early Payment?
US-based supplier diversity programs often represent one of the true success stories of niche-based initiatives that can have real impact with limited budget and resources. Most programs at larger companies still only have a single or handful of dedicated resources and budgets – at best – for supporting technology and data enrichment to manage and […]

Does the IBM Emptoris and Coupa Announcement Raise More Partnership Questions Than Answers?
Earlier this week at Empower, the annual IBM procurement event, IBM Emptoris and Coupa announced a broader sales and distribution partner agreement, one built on top of a previous partnership between the 2 vendors. The IBM team told Spend Matters that the 2 providers have approximately 6 clients in common right now, including a large […]

McDonald’s CSR Commitments Go Multi-tier – But is the Fast Food Giant Ready?
McDonald’s recently announced an important commitment to sustainability by moving to eliminate suppliers that engage in any potential deforestation practices in its supply chain. For quick background reading on the topic, see McDonald’s Corporation Commitment on Deforestation pledge. Here are some highlights: “McDonald’s is committed to eliminating deforestation from our global supply chains. We expect […]

Addressing Communication Challenges With Supplier Enablement and E-Invoicing: Lessons From a Fortune 500 Food/Beverage Company
Earlier in this series, we shared some of the key lessons learned, gleaned from our discussions with the P2P process owner for a large food and beverage company (see Part 1 and Part 2 for these initial tips). Today, we continue our exploration based on additional secrets this organization unlocked in its supplier enablement and […]

Managing Supplier Expectations and Maximizing Portal Participation With Enablement and Connectivity
In the areas of e-invoicing and invoice discounting, getting the right technology in place is essential. But deploying the right strategies to manage supplier expectations and maximize supplier participation in programs is arguably just as important – if not more – to overall success. I recently caught up with a long-time P2P process and systems […]
SAP Gets Into the Supplier Information Management (SIM) Game
On the second day of SAP’s Influencer Summit, the venerable ERP
provider disclosed quite a bit about its broader On-Demand strategy,
products, and pricing in the sourcing and contract management areas.
But from a new-product perspective, it …

Is Supplier Management Key to Addressing Recent Ethical Lapses? (Part 1)
The recent allegations that the SEC and FBI have leveled against two former IBM and McKinsey executives have really made me think about the role that supplier management might have in addressing potential ethical lapses with suppliers and whether it’…