Monthly Top 5 - July 2024

Archive | Upgrade to Premium | Advertise

Hi Readers,

Big milestone this week!

You are now reading The Pure Procurement Newsletter alongside more than 10,000 readers! That’s crazy to think about…

Thanks again for tuning in to read weekly 🙏. You guys are the best!

Reminder: You can now listen to this newsletter by clicking “Listen Online” above.
Get serenaded with the Monthly Top 5 and tell me what you thought 😅

Every month, I comb through 1000+ articles across 40+ sources to bring you the best free procurement articles published that month.

I sort through the noise so you don’t have to.

📰 In this month’s edition of the Top 5:

• No. 1 - Predictions on the Future of the RFP Process

• No. 2 - How to Talk to People Even if You Hate Them… 😅

• No. 3 - What Derails Supply Chain Planning?

• No. 4 - Normalizing Bad Behavior With Suppliers…

• No. 5 - Can Gen AI Really Replace the Need for Corporate Training?

Let’s dive in!

No. 1 🥇

Predictions on the Future of the RFP Process

This month’s best article is a thought experiment conducted by Paul Rogers. In short, I saw his article as answering 3 key questions:

• What happens when all vendors start using Gen AI to generate RFP responses?

• What could this mean for the tendering process?

• How can buyers benefit from this eventuality instead of simply applying the status quo + Gen AI?

An original take on Gen AI implications for procurement that will have you re-evaluating if your current RFPs are run on solid foundations.

The Seventh Wave of Procurement
by Paul Rogers at Procurement and Supply Australasia

No. 2 🥈

How to Talk to People Even if You Hate Them… 😅

This video caught my eye this month because of the title but kept me engaged because of the content. Here are a few of the great tactical tips shared:

• Maintaining professionalism, even when someone is disrespectful, can positively impact how others perceive you (and pay dividends later)

• Deploying “tactical empathy” does not mean you have to like or even agree with your counterpart. But it does open up possibilities of reciprocity!

• Fancy yourself a good listener? Try “measuring” your active listening based on how much time was dedicated to the topics the other person wanted to talk about in any conversation.

Watch the full 6 minutes for a few other tips you can deploy in your next negotiation.

How to Talk to People Even if You Hate Them (video)
by Negotiation Mastery

No. 3 🥉

What Derails Supply Chain Planning?

The more accurate your budgeting and supply chain planning (S&OP) processes are, the easier it is to deliver procurement value to the organization.

Since planning is not typically a Procurement function responsibility, we are highly dependent on the rest of the business for this accurate input.

In her article, Lora reminds us that no system, however good it is, is responsible for supply chain planning accuracy (however you measure that in your business).

While technology can help, there are a few other drivers that have more impact on the quality of this input to your Procurement team.

Build Political Capital to Drive Supply Chain Planning Success
by Lora Cecere at Supply Chain Shaman

No. 4 🏅

Normalizing Bad Behavior With Suppliers…

Reading through the details of the recent eBay supplier harassments case, my face face morphed into the following:

Culture is so powerful… While it is influenced by behaviors which are encouraged (e.g. via policies and procedures), behaviors which are tolerated usually take the cake!

How your procurement team treats suppliers can work for you… But, as eBay’s recent debacle shows, it can also certainly work against you.

The following article is a powerful reminder.

Transforming Supplier Management Culture: Lessons from eBay’s Misconduct
by Alan Day at Procurement and Supply Australasia

No. 5 🎖

Can Gen AI Really Replace the Need for Corporate Training?

Lastly this month, a great piece by HBR on the limitations of Gen AI for education which translates nicely to corporate training.

The article highlights the tradeoffs involved when you consider training employees without a human instructor.

An insightful read if you want adoption and results from your tools/programs.

The Limits of GenAI Educators
by Jared Cooney Horvath at HBR

Get a gift this week… 🎁

Each week I spend several hours crafting this newsletter entirely for free. It'd mean the world to me if you could share The Pure Procurement Newsletter with just 1 person who you think would also enjoy it.

Here's your unique referral code that you can copy and paste: https://newsletter.pureprocurement.ca/subscribe?ref=PLACEHOLDER
(You need to be subscribed and logged in for the link to work)

When you refer 1 subscriber, I’ll give you access to the Monthly Top 5 Link Archive!