by Janice Marquardt | Nov 26, 2024 | Creative Solutions, Supply Chain Career
In this season of gratitude here in the U.S., I’m reminded of one of the best pieces of professional advice I ever received: Don’t say “I’m sorry,” say, “Thank you.” The anecdotal wisdom is that women apologize more than men, but research shows it’s a little more...
by Janice Marquardt | Sep 3, 2024 | Contracts, Definitions, Supply Chain Career
Disclaimer: I am not an attorney and cannot give legal advice. This series is from a supply chain practitioner’s perspective on negotiating contracts and is simply offering my perspective on common contract clauses. Seek professional legal advice for your own...
by Janice Marquardt | Aug 27, 2024 | Processes, Supply Chain Career
As a supply chain professional, it’s incredibly easy to fall into the “they vs. we” trap. “They” are the internal customer, the engineer, the end user, the operations team. “We” are the procurement, supply chain, or logistics team. While there are many ways to start...
by Janice Marquardt | Aug 6, 2024 | Definitions, Savings, Supply Chain Career
The inimitable Mathew Schulz posted on LinkedIn last week about how the best procurement pros chase value instead of savings. This got me thinking about savings vs. value, and the differences between a procurement team who thinks tactically vs. one who thinks...
by Janice Marquardt | Jul 23, 2024 | Supply Chain Career
Anyone who has been in multiple negotiations has dealt with dirty, hardball tactics. Maybe you’ve even used them yourself in an attempt to gain the upper hand. While related to negotiations focused on changing the rules, hardball tactics are in a little different...
by Janice Marquardt | Jul 2, 2024 | e-Auctions, Org Chart, Supply Chain Career
All my career I wanted to be a Vice President. Everything I did professionally drove toward that goal, including: Lateral moves from engineering to supply chain (which also had a bunch of other factors I won’t go into here) Earning a technical master’s degree, two...
