CPO Rising has been actively publishing thought leadership, technology analysis, and supply management best practices for many years and the result has been a steady stream of valuable content that sometimes gets lost in the shuffle. To help our readers keep better track of our ideas on certain topics, we’ve developed a new series in which we will feature a sampling of impactful insights and recent articles on the topics that matter most to CPOs and other procurement executives (Note that readers can also search different categories by clicking on “Articles” found in the blue menu bar directly under the CPO Rising logo or by searching “Tags” under the sponsor logos on the right hand navigation bar). We’ll start with Strategic Sourcing topics as we are now hard at work on our annual report on this topic….

4 Contract Management Articles You Should Read

1. Contract Management: When Collaboration Isn’t Enough, Automation Can Save the Day

From our article entitled, Contract Management: When Collaboration Isn’t Enough, Automation Can Save the Day: Ardent Partners has written at length about the value of collaborating with internal and external stakeholders (namely, with legal departments and suppliers) to uncover hidden costs, risks, and opportunities within an organization’s contracts. After all, operating in silos and doing all of the heavy lifting can be a short-sighted and inefficient way to manage contracts, particularly since contracts transcend departmental and enterprise walls and touch many hands along the way. However, collaboration has its limitations, and should be considered in the context of the partner, their capabilities, and the circumstances. Let’s face it: not every problem can be solved by simply picking up the phone or walking across the hall and talking it out. Often, information overload and / or pressing deadlines call for sophisticated approaches to overcome force and velocity. Read the rest of the article by clicking here.

2. Mobile, Virtual Contract Management: From Back Office to Out-of-Office

From our article entitled, Mobile, Virtual Contract Management: From Back Office to Out-of-Office: The staff at Ardent Partners has written extensively about innovation in the supply management technology sphere over the last five years. During this time, we’ve seen the evolution of mobile platforms, mobile applications, and cloud-based software platforms that have enabled supply management personnel from sourcing to procurement to contracts to accounts payable to transform their day-to-day operations and move from the back office to the front office. Today, thanks to these technologies, supply management personnel can take contract management out-of-office, too. Read the rest of the article by clicking here.

3. ISM at 100: The Hidden Risks Lurking Within Supplier Relationships

From our article entitled, ISM at 100: The Hidden Risks Lurking Within Supplier Relationships: Ardent Partners’ analyst team attended the 100th annual Institute for Supply Management (ISM) conference in Phoenix a couple of weeks ago. Risk, in many of its forms, was a regular topic throughout the event – from Dr. Robert Gates’ opening keynote on global instability, to discussions about conflict minerals compliance, food risk, contract risk, and sustainability issues that occurred over the course of the event. As students of risk (new ones seem to pop up every year), we sat in on many of these presentations and thought that an interesting way to highlight them would be to present a series of discussions on the speakers and how each contributed to the conversation about global supply risk. Today’s discussion is on the hidden risks lurking within an organization’s contracts and supplier relationships, which was presented by John T. Shapiro and Jeffrey Mayer, partners at Freeborn & Peters, LLP. Read the rest of the article by clicking here.

4. The Real Cost of Contract Non-Compliance: A Multi-Stakeholder View

From our article entitled, The Real Cost of Contract Non-Compliance: A Multi-Stakeholder View: For enterprises, contracts are the official documents that codify supplier agreements forged during the sourcing process. They stipulate the quantity, quality, and price of the goods and services that the supplier will provide to the enterprise and under established terms and conditions. Contracts protect the buyer and the seller, and as previously discussed on CPO Rising, are an under-utilized way for enterprises to drive greater savings, compliance, and performance. Whether the sourcing team has undergone a larger competitive bidding process through strategic sourcing, or engaged in a one-to-one negotiation with a preferred supplier, the contract is (or should be) the primary vehicle by which the enterprise procures goods and services. However, this isn’t always the case. Moreover, off-contract spend (also referred to as “maverick spend”) can lead to contract non-compliance, which can cost internal and external stakeholders dearly. What are those costs, and who bears them? Read the rest of the article by clicking here.

Tagged in: Ardent Partners Research, Chief Procurement Officer, Contract Lifecycle Management, CPO, Process, Technology