The Sourcing Hero

Ep 33: Direct Materials Sourcing from Emerging Markets feat. Janette Lais

Direct materials are those that will eventually end up in the hands of a company’s customers, making the choice of supplier in these categories that much more critical. When those suppliers are based in emerging markets, the process of finding and qualifying them requires specialized expertise and third party support to ensure that quality standards are maintained and products meet technical requirements.
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner is joined by Janette Lais. Janette is the Director of Sourcing at Rapid Packaging. She has over 25 years of purchasing, inventory management, operations, and logistics experience. Of particular interest is her knowledge about sourcing internationally, including purchasing products from emerging markets in China, Turkey, and India.
In this conversation, Janette shares her perspective on:
How sourcing processes and supplier communication practices are affected when suppliers are based in emerging markets
How she approaches sourcing projects knowing that the product or material she buys will ultimately end up in the hands of Rapid Packaging’s customers
Advice for companies and procurement/sourcing professionals that are considering sourcing from emerging markets for the first time

Ep 32: Mitigating Price Increase Requests feat. Philip Ideson

The top news stories each day are like a potpourri of procurement challenges: labor shortages, supply chain disruptions, and material cost increases abound. Each one of them means one thing - the next time a supplier emails or calls, they may be reaching out to say that they are going to have to increase their prices as a result. But what is procurement to do?
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner is joined by Philip Ideson. Phil is the Founder and Managing Director of Art of Procurement, a procurement consulting, membership, and content company that provides CPOs and their teams the resources they need to enable company growth. He has also worked at both Procurian & Accenture and has experience across the entire Indirect and Direct procurement value chain.
In this conversation, Phil shares his perspective on:
How procurement should respond to a supplier that reached out with a request for a price increase
What options procurement has for mitigating the increase once it has been determined to be a valid request from the supplier
If procurement needs to worry about getting TOO GOOD at protecting the bottom line in challenging times

Ep 31: Understanding Digital World-Class Procurement feat. Chris Sawchuk

All procurement professionals and organizations want to improve, but the continuum from ‘typical’ to world-class is a long one. The more we can understand about what differentiates digital world-class procurement and how they operate, the more we can accelerate each team’s progression along that journey.
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner is joined by Chris Sawchuk. Chris is a Principal and the Global Procurement Advisory Practice Leader at The Hackett Group. They recently released their 2021 Digital World-Class Procurement research, detailing how top performers are improving their efficiency, effectiveness, and customer experience.
In this conversation, Chris shares his perspective on:
How the ideals of digital world-class procurement is changing how we perceive all procurement organizations
Why investments in digital procurement transformation can make procurement more operationally efficient and provide a better ‘customer experience’ to internal and external stakeholders
The range of factors and inputs included in the idea of digital world-class procurement

Ep 30: Finding the Courage to Take a Relational Approach feat. Kate Vitasek

It is one thing to talk about building relationships with suppliers, but it is another thing entirely to carry it out. This becomes even more challenging when we consider how many suppliers procurement teams are responsible for and how unpredictable the global business world is. If meaningful relationships between companies and their suppliers are to be long-lasting and productive, we need to use the right kind of contract in each case - including agreements that drive desired outcomes rather than over-specifying details.
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner is joined by Kate Vitasek. Kate has been the driving force behind the University of Tennessee's pioneering research and development of the award-winning Vested® and Vested Outsourcing movement. Her insights have been widely published in over 300 articles in respected academic and trade journals, as well as in seven books. She has appeared on Fox Business News, CNN International, NPR and Bloomberg Radio and has been featured in Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Chief Executive Magazine, Contract Management, CIO Magazine, World Trade Magazine, and Information Week.
In this conversation, Kate shares her perspective on:
What relational contracting is, and how it allows companies to achieve successful outcomes in partnership with their suppliers - even through challenging times
How procurement can evaluate suppliers, spend, and contracts to determine if a truly relational approach is warranted 
The courage required to change one’s mindset, and the strength it takes to lead a team or a company in a new direction

Ep 29: Just the Right Number of Cooks in the Kitchen feat. Bill Reeder

If ever there were a case to be made that consistently prioritizing low costs above all else is a mistake, it is in foodservice. People can be passionate and particular about their food - especially when they are away from home. When your foodservice clients and consumers are young men and women in college, how you manage their menu and the overall relationship are very important to the success of your business.
​​In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner is joined by Bill Reeder, the President of Campus Cooks. Campus Cooks is the industry leader in providing professional staffing and foodservice management to fraternities and sororities. They have operations on 45 campuses in 25 states. Bill oversees an executive team charged with growing and managing operations on campuses nationwide while ensuring client satisfaction.
In this conversation, Bill shares his perspective on:
The clear connections he sees between the strength of their employee relationships and the experience they are able to provide to their customers
How to ask questions so that you not only get actionable information, but also support your stakeholder’s decision making process
Why he sees Campus Cooks’ procurement as making critical contributions to the health and culture of the company through the tradeoffs they present

Ep 28: The Difference Between Hearing and Listening feat. Greg Tennyson

Depending on the exact source you consult, somewhere north of 40% of professionals are planning to change jobs this year. Some are re-examining their personal and professional goals, others are responding to hybrid/virtual workforce shifts, and still others are trying to maximize the joy derived from their “QTR,” or Quality Time Remaining.
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner is joined by Greg Tennyson, the brand new SVP of Strategy and Procurement at Fairmarkit. He has over thirty years’ worth of experience working as an innovative CPO for multiple high-profile corporations. He is a founding member of the Bay Area Procurement Council and has sat on a number of advisory boards for emerging high-tech companies as well professional organizations.
In this conversation, Greg shares his perspective on:
Why investments in soft skills are more important in virtual and hybrid models than in a traditional face-to-face workplace
The critical role that technology must play in creating connectivity and enabling collaboration between team members that do not occupy the same physical office space
Why active listening is the first and most important task most professionals take on, and how to overcome the distractions created by heavy workloads and fragmented attention

Ep 27: Seeing the Forest AND the Trees feat. Lawrence Kane

The last year has been full of ups and downs for most procurement organizations and professionals. While there has been a lot of attention on and interest in what they can do for the company, there has also been a lot of change - especially in the knowledge, experience, and traits found in the most desirable talent.
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner is joined by Lawrence Kane. Lawrence is responsible for Strategic Sourcing Functional Excellence at a Fortune 50 company. As the bestselling author of 21 books, he co-wrote The Contract Professional’s Playbook and contributed to both the Outsourcing Professional Body of Knowledge and Strategic Sourcing in the New Economy.
In this conversation, Lawrence shares his perspective on:
The changing role of talent in strategic procurement organizations, and how hiring managers can ensure they are bringing in the skills and experience they need most
Learning to work with the business by building influence, constructively overcoming objections, and hearing what the business needs from a message that states what they want
What procurement needs to know about how the company works before they can determine if they are being effective… or not

Ep 26: Exploring the Many Perspectives of Procurement feat. Canda Rozier

There are many ways to look at every situation, and it is often our ability to combine the observations from multiple perspectives that determine our resilience as well as our capacity for innovation.
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner is joined by Canda Rozier, the President of Collabra Consulting. As a former CPO with extensive global procurement and operations experience, she combines a strong track record of business-oriented strategies with engaged team leadership, mentoring, and industry-wide advisory roles. All of these perspectives have given her a robust and well-rounded way of approaching every challenge that comes along - expected and unexpected
In this conversation, Canda shares her perspective on:
How procurement can make good decisions about where to invest their scarce time, whether the decision at hand is about which supplier to partner with or which piece of content to read all the way through
The critical nature of communication skills in procurement, and how our high-level interactions on social media make it a challenge to successfully engage in formal, long form messaging
The reality that heroism does not mean infallibility, and why every leader and hero in procurement has to be willing to fail on occasion