- 24
- AUG
- 2009
BP refining art of procurement intelligence
Author: Amy Huntley - Categories: Procurement Intelligence
If there’s one word that has loomed large over the past 18 months it’s ‘risk’ – but while for some companies it’s a word that brings out boardrooms in a collective cold sweat, one of the world’s largest oil firms has used its market intelligence operation to stay one step ahead of the game. more
- 13
- AUG
- 2009
Prompt payment fails to hit the spot
Author: Amy Huntley - Categories: Working Capital
‘Too little – too late’. That was the response from the majority of commentators when the UK Government, alongside the Institute of Credit Management, unveiled its prompt payment code for suppliers at the tail end of what was, by anyone’s standards, a miserable 2008 for global business. The aim of the code was to enable suppliers to receive payment for their goods and services at a far quicker rate in order to avoid the kind of cash flowcrisis that had crippled many small and medium-sized enterprises since the onset of the credit crunch. “The code focuses on ensuring firms pay their suppliers on time and do not attempt to change their payment terms retrospectively. This will be essential to help smaller firms maintain cash flow in the months ahead,” said Business Secretary Lord Mandelson. more
- 10
- AUG
- 2009
The true cost of 'Going Google'
Author: Mark Perera - Categories: Economy & Current Affairs
No-one in the wider business world needs reminding that things are pretty tough out there at the moment and, despite tentative signs of a revival on both sides of the Atlantic, are likely to remain so for the foreseeable future. Small wonder then that more and more companies are looking to, what in common parlance, has become known as “go Google”. If you’re based in New York, San Francisco, Boston and Chicago then the chances are that you’ve already come across the company’s latest Google Apps Campaign– a campaign which is hitting billboards across each city. more
