On a conference call with analysts yesterday, Costco CFO Richard Gallanti pronounced an end to the pricing standoff between his company and the Coca-Cola Co. that I covered last month. In that controversial standoff, Costco halted shipments of...

I am penning an article for a major trade publication about purchasing certification in the context of today's economy. I've done some research and found a very interesting statistic. In a random search of over 100 purchasing manager jobs on...

Welcome to another installment of Whitepaper Wednesday here on the Purchasing Certification Blog. This week, I'll be reviewing a whitepaper entitled "European CPOs: Capitalizing on the Best Opportunities" from Aberdeen and Ariba. Now, one thing I...

The worst recession in decades. Professionals networking on sites like LinkedIn rather than in person. New, strong competition in the education market. These are tough times for traditional professional associations. Desperate times are calling for...

Last week, I was asked to be a guest of the local chamber of commerce at their board of directors retreat. While there, I experienced something that reminded me of a common situation faced by procurement managers (or, really, any middle manager). This...