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Posted Mar 9, 2010
In Part One I gave my view as to who should buy travel within a corporation. To recap, I pointed out that no one person should do it. Instead an alliance of procurement and operational management was required pulled together by the influence and gravitas of a hands-on board sponsor.
Posted Mar 5, 2010
This week I was in Charlotte, N.C., attending ProcureCon Indirect, a conference for executives who manage procurement of indirect spend, such as travel and meetings services. It was a great opportunity to meet and network with these folks (About 100 procurement executives came from over 44 companies!) and learn what kinds of challenges they face in reaping system-wide efficiencies and savings from procurement.
Posted Feb 25, 2010
This debate has rumbled on for a very long time and I expect it will continue particularly at this time of financial and strategic difficulty. Suppliers have to earn more and corporations have to pay less to achieve their recovery strategy so it has never been more important that the function in the middle of the pricing debate gets it right. If they don’t we will end up either with less products or fewer customers or perhaps both. The key reason for there being an impasse in this debate is there is no right answer for all the stakeholders. It very much depends on the flexibility, specialist knowledge and skills of individuals concerned.
Posted Feb 10, 2010
When it comes to buying airlines and hotels, there are some big differences. That may not be the case in the near future. I think we're beginning to see a shift--the beginning of a shift--away from the hotel model of pricing and contracting. Let's look first at some key differences:
Posted Nov 5, 2009
There has been an ongoing trend for travel managers to report to procurement because, after all, travel services are a commodity that requires price negotiation and service level agreement just like all other commodities, right? The answer is yes and no, and not "It depends."
Posted Oct 5, 2009
Marketers know the Four P’s of Marketing: Product, Placement, Promotion and Price. And the most recent edition of The Wire…from AirPlus shows that buyers in this hotel RFP season are focused on just one: Price. However, I think there is one missing from this list…and it’s Partnership.
Posted Aug 28, 2009
In the August issue of Monthly Metrics from Procurement.travel, there are some interesting statistics that caught my eye. And they back up or confirm some important trends that I see happening at companies today. These numbers come from a survey of 148 corporate travel professionals.
Posted Jun 11, 2009
With American and Delta cutting capacity again http://finance.yahoo.com/news/American-Airlines-to-cut-apf-15506832.html?.v=3, it is a good time to take another look at your preferred airline contracts, determine which air carriers you should be using, and take a close look at those discounts. When airlines cut capacity, then it may be tough for you to meet your contract requirements. If that is the case, maybe you're using the wrong airlines.
Posted Feb 4, 2009
You would think this would make sense. Wouldn’t you? After all it is logical that if you invest your time, resource and money wisely you should see a return on it. Shouldn't you? Not, it seems, when it comes to business travel where the most trusted tool is a sharp scalpel with which to minimise all cost, and phrases like 'speculate to accumulate' are positively frowned on.
Posted Jan 21, 2009
The trouble with transactions is one of definition. "So what," you might say. "After all, one only needs to specify the term clearly and 'Bob's your uncle.' " Oh that it could be that easy and corporations are finding to their cost (as most pay by transaction one way or another) that what they thought was a clear definition is nothing of the sort.
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