The Sourcing Hero

Ep 86: When Politics Snares Supply Chains feat. Juliette Rowsell

If you feel like working in supply chain and procurement has become a political minefield, you’re not alone. Between increased regulations, high stakes geopolitics, and administrative differences, complexity is up and the pace of change is accelerating.
 In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Juliette Rowsell. Juliette is a reporter at Supply Management magazine, the hard copy publication from CIPS. In the April-June 2022 edition, she wrote an article titled, What happens when politics snares supply? that opens with the following quote, “Amid Russia’s war on Ukraine, already stretched global supply chains went into meltdown over access to commodities and how suppliers reflect political alliances.” 
In this conversation, Juliette shares her media-based perspective on the current state of supply chain management as related to geopolitics and global disruption:
What it has been like covering supply chains as a journalist over the 18 months
How political supply chain management has gotten and why professionals can’t afford to avoid it
The challenge faced by professionals who want to stay informed without being polarized by sensationalized media coverage 
How the rise of national trade protectionism continues to challenge global supply chains

Ep 85: Revolutionizing the Acquisition Experience feat. Jaime Gracia

When you think about frictionless procurement and leading customer experiences, the federal government is probably not the first entity that comes to mind. And yet, the work that they are doing internally and in collaboration with their supply partners is truly transformational.
 In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Jaime Gracia. Jaime is the Director of Strategic Enterprise Programs for the U.S. Department of State and he has over 20 years’ worth of experience in procurement. One of the efforts he is currently leading is the Acquisition Experience (Acq-X) program, a transformation program that he joins the podcast to discuss.
In this conversation, Jaime described many of the ways that his team at the U.S. Department of State is working on reduce friction for ‘customers’ while remaining compliant with federal regulations:
The operational paradigm shift Jaime and his team are leading through the acquisition experience project 
How procurement can better address the challenge presented by the end of budgetary cycle ‘feeding frenzy’ that often happens 
How he balances regulatory compliance with frictionless processes to design an experience that meets everyone’s needs
The change that had the greatest impact in terms of how his customers perceive the procurement experience

Ep 84: Tackling the Trends of Quiet Quitting and Firing feat. Kris Lance

There are always prevailing trends in talent management, but they seem to be higher profile in the wake of the pandemic. First was the Great Resignation, and now we’re all talking about (and looking for examples of) quiet quitting and quiet firing. 
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes back Kris Lance, Senior Director at Una, for a recurring monthly conversation about current news stories. Kris has experience in multiple industries and has his finger on the pulse of the trends and topics that procurement, sourcing, and supply chain professionals need to be aware of.
In this interview, Kris and Kelly talk about the trend of quiet quitting and quiet firing:
Whether they are really a new phenomenon or whether we are just more aware of the dynamics now
What companies and managers might do from a policy perspective to protect their teams and output from quiet quitters
How employees should handle situations where they or their co-workers are being quiet fired
The possibility that we’ve lost the ability to deal with tough issues head on, including personnel performance

Ep 83: Creating a Delightful Customer Experience feat. Sarah Kaye

There are differences in procurement by industry, company, and even between direct and indirect procurement, but each team or individual still has an opportunity to make meaningful contributions to the customer experience. Active listening and focusing on what really moves the needle can keep procurement focused on what matters most.
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Sarah Kaye. Sarah has worked in procurement for many companies that you’ve no doubt heard of: Target, Radisson Hotel Group, WeWork, and now Spin Mobility, an electric scooter and bike-share company. But she actually started her career in marketing and sales… a background that serves her well given today’s procurement challenges.
In this conversation, Sarah combines her experience in sales and marketing with her time in procurement to shed light on:
What it is like to transition from direct spend management to indirect corporate contract management
How procurement can ‘surprise and delight’ customers via indirect sourcing
Ways for procurement to ‘market’ their value-add beyond savings
Why we need diverse perspectives and voices at every ‘table’ where decisions are being made

Ep 82: Winning at the Game of Risk feat. Rohit Hajela

The speed of change is so fast these days that we are living in the future already. As a result, risks from cybersecurity and ransomware are increasing - as are the costs and business implications associated with them.
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Rohit Hajela. Rohit started his career working in product development, and over time that evolved into vendor management roles in procurement. Today he continues that work and he has also co-founded a business called Vendor Management Office that helps track third party technology vendors.
In this conversation, Rohit shares his vendor management experience as it applies to:
The risks companies open themselves up to if they don’t actively manage their IT vendors
How procurement can bring IT contracts under management using a two-step process
Ways for procurement to make better use of the IT security or data security questionnaires that are so often included in RFPs

Ep 81: How to Persuade Anyone, Anytime feat. Simon Horton

The power of persuasion is at play all the time and in all settings. Sometimes it is as simple as swaying a group of friends to agree with your restaurant preference, but other times there is far more at stake. Hostage negotiators and diplomats regularly find themselves in situations where their skills are needed to save lives and preserve stability. Most examples of persuasion fall somewhere between the two extremes, making it a critical skill for all business people to invest in.
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Simon Horton. Simon is the founder of Negotiation Mastery, where he provides negotiating training and coaching for banks, law firms, global blue chip companies, and even hostage negotiators. He has also written several books including his latest title, just released this past spring and titled Change Their Mind: Six Steps to Persuade Anyone, Anytime.
In this conversation, Simon shares what he has learned in his experience as a negotiation coach and what he heard from the broad range of professionals he interviewed for his new book:
Whether persuasion is a skill that most of us possess, and why we might want to improve
The importance of listening to successful persuasion
How we can prepare ourselves in advance of a situation where we know persuasion will be required for a successful outcome
Managing the ‘long tail’ of persuasion to make sure a person’s agreement actually leads to the desired behavior

Ep 80: What is - and is NOT - in the Inflation Reduction Act feat. Kris Lance

Business leaders and decision makers and constantly in a race to keep up with the pace of change. That includes the competitive landscape, economic trends, and new legislation. Case in point: The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Despite its name, legislators on both sides of the aisle agree that this law is not about reducing inflation. So what is it about?
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes back Kris Lance, Senior Director at Una, for a recurring monthly conversation about current news stories. Kris has experience in multiple industries and has his finger on the pulse of the trends and topics that procurement, sourcing, and supply chain professionals need to be aware of.
 In this interview, Kris and Kelly talk about the implications of the Inflation Reduction Act:
What connections are there between deficit spending and inflation, and how will this bill potentially affect the economy?
How do the climate-related provisions of the act play out in reality given our current manufacturing capabilities?
How are busy people leading ‘ordinary’ lives supposed to keep up with today’s rapid pace of change?

Ep 79: User-Centric MRO Spend Management feat. Mike Franz

B2C consumer experience expectations have been bleeding into the commercial sphere for a long time, but with the disruption of the last two years, that trend seems to be accelerating. Not only are manufacturing companies looking to improve the experience they offer distributed buyers of MRO supplies, procurement is more aware of the experience expectations as well.
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Mike Franz, Founder and CEO of ManufacturingPower.com. As a manufacturing ‘triple threat,’ Mike is now using his broad experience to transform the way small to medium sized manufacturers address their MRO spend by acknowledging changes in consumer expectations.
 In this conversation, Mike talks about how buyer experiences are changing and how procurement can keep up without compromising on their ‘must achieve’ objectives:
How the B2C eCommerce experience is changing expectations of corporate procurement 
How companies can accommodate talent and bandwidth shortages by better leveraging procurement processes and systems
The steps procurement can take to avoid having to choose between data quality and organization and an improved user experience