Although I linked to the new Category Chatter podcasts last week, I really wanted to dive into the Tata Motors story (mp3) with Ravi Kumaraswami and Jason Busch a bit further. The process by which Tata shifted from a commercial vehicle manufacturer that was hemorrhaging money to a low price consumer car-maker that showcases how [more]

[Read more →]

SpendMatters blogger and all around industry guru Jason Busch is back with another round of Category Chatter podcasts. In case you’re not familiar with the series, the podcasts feature Jason interviewing various Ariba Category Managers on hot topics of the day. If the area of spend they’re covering is of interest to you, Jason’s probing [more]

[Read more →]

My colleagues in Category Management recently collaborated for the cover story on ISM (Institute for Supply Management). Their article outlined the 5 Best Practices for Category Management and gave some great advice that companies either already follow or should. The fifth and final tip - coping with globalization & the total cost of ownership - [more]

[Read more →]

I have received a lot of questions from coworkers and clients about the situation in Georgia. Obviously during a conflict, the hope of nearly everyone is that the fighting will cease and a peaceful resolution will be reached quickly. But from a business perspective, companies in EMEA, the US and around the globe want to [more]

[Read more →]

Everybody is aware of the trans-Atlantic trade implications of a weak US dollar, which has lost another 12% of it’s value against the Euro in the last year. European exporters are struggling if they deliver to US customers, whose purchasing power has been greatly diminished in the last few years (see the graph on Kevin [more]

[Read more →]