A panel debate at the Procurement Leaders Forum in Vienna today, delved into some of the more crucial issues procurement leaders are having to deal with today. Titled Orchestrating change: Strategies to maximise the potential of procurement, the session focused on three key areas - capturing supplier innovation, generating revenue and preparing for the future.

With the launch of our new Procurement Intentions intelligence index, we can now provide unparalleled insight into the strategic thinking of global CPOs.

If there's one thing that can be said for the current British government, it's that it's pro-business. Together, prime minister David Cameron and chancellor George Osbourne want to lower the rate of corporation tax and introduce a number of measures that will attract major organisations to the country.

In the latest issue of Procurement Leaders, deputy editor Steve Hall reported on how procurement is facing a crucial test, as its continued evolution begins to undermine its very existence. Speaking to Novartis' Giles Breault provides further evidence.

A long time ago, in an office in the City of London, some of the most powerful bankers in the UK put their weight behind a set of processes that could provide the lubrication upon which an economic revival might be stimulated.

There’s been a flurry of press articles of late looking at the rising labour costs in Asia. This one in the Wall Street Journal from today, for example (registration may be required...), or this one in the latest edition of The Economist. But do we really care?

As the Geneva Motor Show kicks off, it’s worth spending a little time analysing developments in the industry widely seen as the place where procurement is held in the highest regard. It’s here that the most CPOs have board level visibility; where purchasing truly does define success or failure.

IBM’s completion of its acquisition of Emptoris, announced 1 February, 2012, is one more indication of the growing recognition of the importance of analytics in procurement, a use that procurement executives in several industries say is essential. Others outside procurement think it’s essential too: Gartner’s recent CIO survey concluded that analytics and business intelligence are the top-ranked technologies for 2012; Consultancy A.T. Kearney has long pushed for increased use of analytics in supply chain management; and the American Management Association has just added a new course on how to improve analytical skills to its list of educational seminars.

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about how Boeing should be applauded for the good work it’s doing in its supply chain - a rather strange claim, considering the problems it’s had with its Dreamliner project. So, perhaps it’s got something to do with the aerospace industry, but Rolls Royce is another company that deserves attention.