In some companies, commodity strategy has a reputation for being a document that gets created once a year, goes through a round of comments, gets a logo and a date, and is then filed away somewhere it will never bother anyone again. Formally complete. Practically useless. But a real commodity strategy isn’t a presentation for […]
Negotiations often go wrong before the participants even sit down at the table. Not because of a bad offer. Not because of an aggressive supplier. And usually not because the planets happen to be badly aligned. The reason tends to be much less poetic: no one really knows what they want to achieve. The team […]
Burnout rarely arrives with dramatic music playing in the background. It usually does not begin with a collapse, a resignation letter placed on the desk, or the words, “I can’t do this anymore.” It begins much more quietly. You do not want to get up in the morning. In the evening, you cannot switch off. […]
We often imagine negotiation as a scene from a movie. Two parties sit across from each other, a glass of water on the table, someone slowly takes off their glasses and says: "So, let's talk about the price." But by that point, half of the outcome has usually already been decided. Negotiation doesn't begin with […]
I like this case study. I ask my students to describe how they would take over and run a company’s purchasing process. The answers are sometimes bland, sometimes interesting—and I have a good time and, most importantly, I learn. That’s what universities are for, right? Our Honzík is a smart guy (and he reads fairy […]
There comes a point when managing fasteners weighs on you so much that you feel like all you do in meetings is deflect colleagues’ shots — “we would certainly hit the plan (and get our bonuses) if it weren’t for the mess in purchasing fasteners. When we’ve got type-x screws from supplier A, we’re missing […]
Motto: “Procurement isn’t only about savings.” — Jan Hirsch Honzík rushed to his boss with his latest triumph. He’d managed to squeeze a 20% discount out of the grinder supplier—plus a volume discount for orders over 20 units! And they say he can’t run tenders! Sure, the chase for savings — and even setting rewards […]
That lady who snapped at the camera—“I would ban all those internets”— became quite a meme, an icon even. An icon of what, exactly? For those who remember their history, it brought to mind the silk-weavers’ riots in Lyon (1831), also tied to smashing the machines that were supposedly stealing people’s work and wages. She […]
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