An Inevitable Clash
Corporate governance is a pretty dry subject in the best of times, but it just may become a bit more interesting, particularly if we have gotten it wrong and it turns out to be the source of the current worldwide…
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Read MoreAn Inevitable Clash
Many Advantages of a Strong Knowledge Chain
Knowledge chains enable supply chain performance. They bring together the information and context that let you make decisions and take actions. Gaps in a supply chain are noticed and fixed immediately, but holes in a knowledge chain often go undetected.…
The Post Capitalist Society
To paraphrase Peter Drucker in his book, Post Capitalist Society, what Karl Marx envisioned has been achieved in America, and true capitalism is alive today in China. Marx wanted the wealth of companies to be in the hands of the…
The Myth vs. Reality of Worker Productivity
I am disturbed by how many of my friends are unprepared for retirement. I shouldn’t be surprised, however — walk through Wal-Mart or stay at any North American hotel, and you see too many older people, who should be enjoying…
LiveChat Follow-Up on Price Competitiveness (Part 2)
As promised in my previous post, LiveChat Follow-Up on Price Competitiveness, Part 1, I am outlining in this blog the final two actions from my top five steps to ensuring competitive pricing in the current environment. This follows on the…
LiveChat Follow-Up on Price Competitiveness (Part 1)
Several of you have asked for more specific information on how to achieve better pricing, beyond what we were able to cover in last month’sLiveChat. In a two-part response, I want to discuss my top five actions that can improve…
The Price Change Equation
The late Richard Beckhard, industrial psychologist and adjunct professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, developed an equation for change. He called it a “change equation” when really it was its vector equivalent — progress — but as he’s…
Where’s the Innovation?
Jennifer Baljko’s latest blog got me thinking about supply chain innovation. (See: Fending Off the Budget-Planning Monster.) Her question, “How can they lower supply and materials costs while keeping supplier and customer relationships intact?” is about supply chain. Her comment,…
Values Up or Prices Down
The Internet, enabled by cool applications, has brought the process of competitive bidding to an entirely new level. Reverse auctions, for example, have squeezed savings out of suppliers in every situation I am aware of. But it’s getting worse for…