Tag Archives: Procurement Research

Is There Any Value in Forecasting? A Manager’s checklist

Year after year, as companies navigate their way through annual business planning cycles, executives and analysts alike work tirelessly to try and predict how the next fiscal year will unfold, making a range of decisions from where best to focus … Read More…

Tags , , , , , | Comments Off

China and its Influence on the Global Rare Earth Metals Market

“The Middle East has its oil, China has rare earth metals.” —Deng Xiaoping, Chinese President (1992) Take an even a cursory look at any major business media today and China’s influence in the minerals and metals commodity markets is inescapable. … Read More…

Tags , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Four key challenges for supply chains in 2011 and beyond

These four challenges are highlighted in this article, along with a high level look into the types of informational tools and techniques that can be leveraged to help manage them effectively. If there is a truism in supply chains, it … Read More…

Tags , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

6 Key Actions – Aligning supply chains with corporate strategy.

The supply chain and procurement executive(s) has a ‘seat at the executive table’. To illustrate its potential impact from a pure economic perspective, where else in an organization does one executive have the ability to influence and manage the cost … Read More…

Tags , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Copper – Primer & Outlook

Copper is regarded as the most valuable of primary base metals, barring nickel, even though it is not the largest base metal market in the world. Indeed, it is considered a barometer for the state of the economy, given its … Read More…

Tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Smart Cube Financial Services Survey : Implications of The Credit Crunch

Listen or read any news site or publication over the last several months and talk of the economy is never far behind. Recession or no recession, individuals and corporations alike are clearly acting as if we are in one. Housing … Read More…

Tags , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Survey: Global Manufacturers Staying Put in China

(click here to view the press release) In the aftermath of the recent recalls of tainted and toxic China-made products, more than a few have speculated that manufacturers who have outsourced production operations there are no doubt rethinking their sourcing … Read More…

Tags , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment