Mark Perera

AVOCADO FARMING AND HUMAN RIGHTS HIT THE HEADLINES
Procurement With Purpose
October 13, 2020

Personally, I really don’t like avocados and my wife is actually allergic to the strange green fruit. But they have become de rigeur for the Millennial generation, with crushed avocado on toast apparently the equivalent of my generation’s cheese and pickle sandwich.

But these days there appears to be a dark side to pretty much anything we buy, and an investigation by the Sunday Times takes us into avocado-related procurement with purpose territory.

Actually, this case is an example of my two personal interests overlapping in terms of procurement practice and behaviour. As well as the purpose and sustainable procurement agenda, I have been focusing on things that go wrong in the procurement world, with my book Bad Buying — How Organisations Waste Billions Through Failures, Frauds, and F*ck-ups published last week by Penguin Business. And this avocado case study shows how procurement with purpose issues can flip into “bad buying” in a very real sense.

UK GOVERNMENT EMPHASISES SOCIAL VALUE IN PROCUREMENT
Procurement With Purpose
October 07, 2020

With many of the public sector procurement stories in the UK recently featuring apparently strange pandemic-related supplier selection decisions and allegations of nepotism, it is good to be able to report a positive story from Whitehall.

REGISTER NOW FOR VIZIBL COLLABORATE & OUR PROCUREMENT WITH PURPOSE ROUNDTABLE
Procurement whit Purpose
September 27, 2020

On Wednesday this week (September 30th, 2020), the two founders of the Procurement with Purpose website (and movement), Mark Perera and Peter Smith, are participating in a session on the topic during the Vizibl Collaborate 2020 virtual conference.

Vizibl is the software firm founded and run by Mark, previously one of the founders of Procurement Leaders, and the line-up for the event is very impressive, with big name speakers such as Marcel Vollmer (ex SAP CPO and now a partner at BCG), Clive Heal, Detlef Schultz from Vodafone and many others from academia, the consulting and solution provider worlds plus top procurement execs.

FRANK OMARE – DRIVING VALUE FROM SUSTAINABLE PROCUREMENT
Procurement with Purpose
September 22, 2020

Frank Omare wants to make it clear that unlike many people who just fell into the profession, “I found procurement. I saw it as an exciting and interesting place to be”. As a qualified chemical engineer, he worked in that discipline, then moved into manufacturing management roles in the food industry, before seeing that procurement and supply chain was where he wanted to focus his attention.

HERVÉ LE FAOU OF HEINEKEN - A REAL SENSE OF PURPOSE
Procurement with Purpose
September 15, 2020

Moving from the vision back to current activities, Le Faou is one of the co-leads of Heineken’s sustainability programme. The firm has cut carbon emissions from its breweries almost in half since 2008 and has committed to using 70% renewable energy within ten years. “Regenerative agriculture” is another priority, which in areas such as barley cultivation looks to improve the soil, develop healthier water systems and increased biodiversity, as well as improving the lot of farmers. Heineken also is working to make logistics and cooling greener too, which matters as the firm has no less than 150,000 of its green fridges out in the marketplace!

A VIRTUOUS REVOLUTION
Procurement with Purpose
September 11, 2020

Remember the days before Coronavirus when climate change was the great threat to humanity? With our eyes now firmly fixed on the unfolding impacts of the pandemic it is easy to overlook, but it hasn’t gone away, and urgent change is needed.

If COVID-19 has done any good, it is that a number of sacred cows have been killed regarding what is possible in how we live and work, such as the need for 9-5 office attendance, ad hoc convenience shopping and the need to use cars constantly - all debunked and the air cleaner for it. But these effects only go part way to achieving sustainability goals, even if we did retain those lockdown habits. Is there a better way?

PAUL POLIZZOTTO – ENTREPRENEUR AND SOCIAL BENEFIT VISIONARY
Procurement with Purpose
June 20, 2020

Paul Polizzotto isn’t talking about the coronavirus, but about less specific yet very real threats. “People are getting angry, about climate change, about healthcare, inequality”, so time is short to address these challenges. “Rome is burning”, he claims.

NANDINI BASUTHAKUR - LEADING WITH PROCUREMENT LEADERS
Procurement with Purpose
June 17, 2020

Nandini Basuthakur is arguably the best-connected individual in the global procurement world. She has personally worked in many countries, and held some significant jobs, including her current role as Chief Executive Officer of Procurement Leaders (PL).

Nandini was finding the constraints of social distancing challenging when we spoke to her for this interview. “I’m a sociable person”, she said. At PL, the world’s largest procurement networking and intelligence platform, she is used to constant face to face contact with colleagues, as well as PL’s unrivalled network of global CPOs and their senior teams.

What is Innovation?
LinkedIn
October 01, 2019

I saw this quote from Bill Gates and it really resonated with me. It’s something that one of the best business minds in the world identified a long time ago, and yet we still struggle so much with understanding what innovation entails.

And this led me to think of why is it that when it comes to the word innovation, it conjures up a world of complication along with feelings of confusion and frustration. Do we over complicate things? Do we miss the fundamental aspects of what innovation should involve? Do we even know what we mean when we utilise the word innovation?

Procurement Leaders
Procurement Leaders
April 25, 2019

Founding Editor of Procurement Leaders Magazine 2005-2008.

Procurement Leaders Quarterly (PLQ) and Monitor are publications designed to inspire, inform and educate procurement chiefs and their teams on the latest trends shaping the function.

Why & How to Run Your 1st Supplier Day: Pearson's Story
linkedin
December 20, 2018

Ask any supplier what they want most and the majority will probably give you the same answer – namely, being involved earlier in the decision-making process and also, crucially, given a true understanding of what it is that a company is trying to achieve

Where I see Procurement in 2025
LinkedIn
June 28, 2018

Organisations need two things to thrive. Growth and speed. Miss these and you will miss the boat. Today I want to look at how technological advances will enable procurement teams to automate and augment their current transactional workload and allow them to deliver measurable growth and speed.

Where I see Procurement in 2025
linkedin
June 26, 2018

Organisations need two things to thrive. Growth and speed. Miss these and you will miss the boat. Today I want to look at how technological advances will enable procurement teams to automate and augment their current transactional workload and allow them to deliver measurable growth and speed.

Calling Female Tech Founders! €50.000 Startup Prize at the Arch Summit
linkedin
March 08, 2018

Arch Summit’s Women in Technology competition aims to help profile the awesome female-led technology startups with leading corporate innovators & venture capitalist.

Six Supplier Collaboration Takeaways from Munich.
linkedin
May 19, 2017

I’ve been lucky enough to be the facilitator of Old St Lab’s whistle-stop world tour on supplier collaboration. So far we’ve held executive roundtable sessions in San Francisco (write-up here), London (write-up here) and we’ve just wrapped up another session in Munich.

Old St Labs partners with Vodafone to drive ambitious supplier collaboration & innovation agenda
linkedin
March 07, 2017

Hopefully, you’ve seen Old St Lab’s press release announcing our partnership with Vodafone, if you missed it, you can get it here.

Formula 1 Reinvents Itself Every Year — It’s time for Procurement to Follow Suit
linkedin
June 15, 2016

Last week I attended the Docusign Momentum event in London and was blown away by a presentation former SAP CEO Jim Hagemann Snabe gave entitled “Re-invention from a Position of Strength — Leading through the 4th Industrial Revolution.

The Hard Things About Supplier Relationships
linkedin
April 04, 2016

One of the best books I’ve read in the last few years is The Hard Things About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz the co-founder and General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz. In a departure from most management books I’ve come across, Horowitz steers clear of the ‘management made easy’ spiel and instead opts for a far more personal approach to the topic highlighting accounts of his personal challenges in the corporate arena.

Memo to the CEO: Suppliers Are Key to Growth
Medium
March 13, 2015

You have no doubt heard the phrase that the customer is the key to a business’s success. Making sure the customer’s happy, providing ways for the customer to interact with sales and customer service staff and the continuance of supplying helpful services and useful products are all parts of this success. However, there’s one key factor that could cause a breakdown in a business’s success regardless of how it treats its customers and that is suppliers. Suppliers are key to growth.

Engineering a Revolution at Work - Podcast
linkedin
January 16, 2015

Business innovators please take the time to listen to this podcast from Simon Sinofsky, on the evolution of work. Then reflect to tools & approach your team using day to day...... there might be an better way

Favorite App of 2014 - Slack
linkedin
December 13, 2014

This selection was simple. Slack is simply awesome.
At Old St Labs we don't use email internally. We use Slack. We keep email for our lovely customers & future customers.

My Favourite Quotes of 2014
linkedin
December 12, 2014

My Favourite Quotes of 2014

Procurement Leaders
Procurement Leaders
January 01, 2004

Procurement Leaders connects, informs and inspires global corporations and their executives to enhance the contribution procurement makes to the business each day.

Founded in 2004 and headquartered in London, we are a global membership network serving major corporations and procurement, sourcing and supply chain executives. We provide independent procurement intelligence, professional development and peer to peer networking via our award winning online information resource, events and training solutions.

Our unique insights, research and data, as well as networking and professional development opportunities, enable procurement executives to deliver more value to their businesses equipping them with expert practices that deliver greater savings faster, reduce risks and transform functional performance.

Vizibl Collaborate
Vizibl
July 03, 2020

Procurement with Purpose: Our future. Our legacy.

Mark Perera looks at how leading organisations are looking deep into their supply chain to make a world of difference and how organisations are developing strategies for procurement with purpose.

Arch Summit Keynote on supplier & startup ecosystems
Tomorrow Street
May 22, 2018

SAP Ariba Live
SAP Ariba
June 14, 2019

Don't get left behind in the ecosystem revolution. Understand how innovation, through a strong, dynamic ecosystem, benefits your business now and in the next few years. Learn from Sean Thompson, Yves Mulkers and Mark Perera from Vizibl on how you can capitalize on global commerce for your business now.

Mark Perera - What's the case for Relationship Management?
Mission Innovation
May 26, 2020

A lot of people use terms like "supplier relationships" and "partnerships" interchangeably. To most of us, they mean the same thing. But when you're talking about your procurement strategy, it's important that you differentiate between the kinds of arrangements you want to nurture. They'll impact how you carry out your strategy and what resources you need to invest in.

PROCUREMENT WITH PURPOSE ROUNDTABLE
PROCUREMENT WITH PURPOSE
September 27, 2020

On Wednesday this week (September 30th, 2020), the two founders of the Procurement with Purpose website (and movement), Mark Perera and Peter Smith, are participating in a session on the topic during the Vizibl Collaborate 2020 virtual conference.