AARP had enjoyed a very good relationship with our payroll services provider, which we migrated to several years ago when we implemented a VMS solution and outsourced daily operations to an MSP. In gearing up for a new competitive bidding process, we discovered that much […]
As a strategic sourcing manager with roots in engineering and business, one requirement of my job is to understand the factors or cost components that determine the price of a good or service, or the “should costs.” Determining the “should cost” is important for […]
It comes up every three months: the quarterly business review — a time to review progress, want to be sure the people you send are right for the task in case changes to the program or service contractual commitments and a great time for […]
At the CWS Summit in San Diego last September, I noticed a re-occurring theme in my direct dialogue with other program managers as well as suppliers: How do you manage your vendor list and do you allow manager/supplier contact?
As you’re reading […]
From 2008 through the end of last year, I worked at Microsoft Global Procurement Group in the team that defines, shapes and executes its contingent workforce procurement strategy.
Expanding a program outside the U.S. is more than just a “copy and paste” exercise; besides the obvious differences in regulations and local market dynamics, one needs to […]
As the director of agency contractor services for Hewlett-Packard, I am contacted almost daily by providers of contingent labor. It’s a challenging market for suppliers trying to get on our supplier lists, as companies such as ours look to reduce our supply base and develop more strategic partnerships with our suppliers.
But what does that mean? […]
Pepsico, like many other companies, utilizes scorecards to gauge our suppliers’ performance. The scorecards also helped us determine how to structure our tiered system of preferred suppliers within our managed service program (MSP).
As a category manager, I looked at the scorecard to show me how much effort a supplier was putting into filling jobs for […]
When contingent workforce managers seek out VMS or MSP partners, we look for specific qualities. We are looking for a provider who knows more than we do, whose company culture melds with ours, and who has the resources to get it all done. It helps when a vendor understands what is at stake and works […]
