 | Alan Braithwaite explains how important the procurement function is to the business as a whole, pointing out that as much as 60% of a company's revenue can leave through this function. As well as getting the basics right it is important to take an end-to-end strategic view, as your conditions and characteristics of supply will ultimately affect your customers. |
 | Professor Corrado Cerruti talks about the risks associated with different types of supplier relationship and how to manage them. High involvement partnerships in the long term warrant different investment strategies to deep relationships over the short term. |
 | Odette Beattie, UK Manager for Resourcing in Marketing & Corporate Purchasing at Tesco talks about developing a consistent message for what 'good' recruitment looks like to your business. She also highlights some key points around the retention of good people. |
 | Doug Rode, Managing Director of Procurement and Supply Chain at Michael Page talks about some of the misconceptions around the ease of recruiting over the past few years given the current economic climate. Whilst social media and the internet have facilitated easier access to the right candidates, Doug also points out that the recruitment process itself can have a big impact on keeping the right person engaged. |
 | Michael Crean, Director of Service Division explains how SKF delivers value to their customers though investment in tools which enable them to understand their customers and engage with them in order to deliver value which is relevant to their industry and needs. |
 | Holger Schiele, Professor of Technology Management -- Innovation of Operations at the University of Twente talks about why being a preferred customer is becoming more important due to supplier scarcity as well as the requirement for innovation. He also describes how organisations are managing to achieve this status. |