Performance Management is a critical business issue that encompasses virtually all enterprises in every industry sector. While there have been some studies that define "best practices" in managing performance, there is no definitive research that correlates specific practices with superior strategic, competitive, operational, and financial outcomes.

This first-ever global study examining performance management practices in private and public sector organizations has been led and developed by a team of professors and recognized industry experts from a global project team including: the University of Ottawa's Telfer School of Management; the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland; the University of South Australia; PricewaterhouseCoopers; and CATA.

fmi: http://www.cata.ca/Media_and_Events/Press_Releases/cata_pr10230802.html

Foundations Of Sand: Why Ecademy Has A Decided Advantage As The Social Network Market Leader (Ecademy Profile)

“The social network community is on the verge of a monumental shift in which many of the networks that are in existence today will not be around tomorrow.

By evolving beyond their technological origins, the core survivors will avoid the fate of the early lights, who like SixDegrees.com are destined to fade into historic insignifigance in much the same manner that CP/M ceded to the DOS platform in the early days of the personal computer.”

From The White Paper “The Unsociable Business of Social Networks” (By Jon Hansen, Release Date January 2009)

The following is an excerpt from a PI Q&A response posted not that long ago:

As outlined in an overview of my latest seminar, “Social Networking and the Procurement Professional of the Future,” I express surprise that very few supply chain professionals know about Social Networking. Although there is a periphery understanding through mainstream ...

“I stated that the worst thing a purchasing person can do when using an RFP to buy professional services is to exclude a project budget. Immediately, a rebuttal was offered, “But if I give them the budget,” stated the attendee, “they are all just going to come in at that budget.” He was right. But he failed to recognize that as a distinct advantage for both the vendor and the purchaser. When everyone’s price is the same, the buyer can compare expertise and value across a consistent price spectrum and purchase the services of the best expert they can afford.”

From the PowerPoint “A Decent Proposal”, Cal Harrison, Beyond Referrals (August 2008)

In many ways my interview with Beyond Referrals President Cal Harrison, was one of the most interesting I have ever had, as the subject of quantifying the intagible attributes associated with the effective acquisition of professional services is a subject upon which my own research on strand commonality has been centered. Specifically, how does one identify and ...

>Looking beyond what Future Path President and CEO Greg
>Waite referred to as the "casual conversation"
>surrounding the issue of Intellectual Property (IP)
>rights within the majority of procurement contracts, I
>thought of my own work as a consultant.

>I am often retained by both public and private sector
>organizations to prepare studies or reports on a
>variety of topics ranging from the viability of digital
>signatures within the contract routing process to
>assessing the changing technological landscape and its
>impact on current as well as contemplated e-procurement
>strategies.

>Employing a patented research methodology, I have been
>told that my papers provide a unique insight and
>perspective that in many cases have resulted in a
>competitive advantage for the client. In this context,
>the question of ownership relative to the findings and
>corresponding conclusions has rarely if ever been
>broached.

>As the author of the paper, and combined with a
>significantly lower consulting ...

My name is Diana Esparza, MSc Electronic Business Technologies full time student at the University of Ottawa. Currently, I am working on my thesis proposal “Measuring Confidence in Supply Chain Management System: An empirical approach”. Although, Supply chain practitioners concur that confidence is an indispensable element that enables enterprises to maximize customer value and diminish operating costs, not academic research has been conducted. Hence, the purpose of my research is to provide enterprises with a standard methodology that measures the level of confidence within the supply chain management system. I want to develop a model that weight reliability within the supply chain since it can assist companies in gaining or enhancing supply chain operational excellence by building an efficient and cost effective supply chain.

For the purpose of the research, I have defined supply chain confidence as an expectation shared by an enterprise with its internal and external business partners. This expectation ...

Network Member Question:

What kinds of information is being sent across companies in a Supply Chain? And what technology is helping you with that? I have been reading more about SCM lately, and I was wondering what kinds of information is being sent across companies? Is it all numbers and values ? Or unstructured data as well ?

And how is technology helping you to do this ? Do you share a specific platform across these companies? Or does every company has its own, and is this connected to one another ? Which software enables you to do so ?


Question Submitted By:
Marijn Somers
Functional Analyst/Project Leader
Belgium

My Answer:

With the emergence of the Metaprise (and Web 2.0) platforms the term supply "chain" is actually a misnomer.

In reality, supply "synchronization" amongst key transactional stakeholders has become a reality, in that the exchange of real-time, real-world data extends beyond the confines of the "loose coupling" associated with the Service Oriented Architectures (SOA) ...

Network Member Question:

With the advent then adoption of Web 2.0 technologies, Enterprise 2.0 concept come to the scene. Besides its technological complexity and transform, the big issue is the organizational culture change in enterprise. For the effectiveness of this revolution, what is your strategy, critical decisions and experiences. Any case study or best practice?

Question Submitted By:
Oguz Bayram
Project Manager
Netron Technology, Turkey

My Answer:

Generally speaking the big difference between Web 2.0 and Enterprise 2.0 is more cultural than technical. Or as one article put it, "There's a big cultural difference between the Web 2.0 people and the IT department."

Web 2.0 (or Enterprise 2.0) is amazing in that its premise is based on engaging or linking disparate stakeholders through a centralized process while still mainating local or regionalized autonomy. In essence independent entities collaborating on an as needed basis toward a collective outcome - like different stakeholders within ...

Network Member Comment/Question

My company has deep roots in B2B integration using traditional EDI, primarily for supply chain processes in heavy industry. When XML came out, many predicted the demise of EDI and widespread adoption of XML. That didn't happen. Some industry groups agreed on industry-specific standards for XML data exchange and made some progress (such as RosettaNet) but almost no one wanted to rebuild costly but effective EDI infrastructure. Some found that the availability of the Internet and advances in data transmission like AS2 made it more cost effective to connect directly to trading partners. Change was steady, but not a revolution.

Recently, we have seen the maturation of industry standards such as papiNet (paper industry) and CIDX (chemical industry) and even the specialized application of those standards to sub-groups like the book industry or agricultural chemicals has led to bolder supply chain initiatives based on the mutual value of collaboration. Unlike forced mandates from ...

Do purchasing association designations (i.e. CPM, CPP etc.) increase its membership's earning potential?