Proxima Blog

Best of 2012

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With 2013 off to a running start, we have cast a nostalgic eye over 2012, putting together this selection of our most popular whitepapers, blogs, discussions, videos and recommended reading materials.

Looking at the final selection of 'best of' content, deemed 'most popular' by our readers and viewers, there is a general sense that procurement is rapidly moving up senior executive agendas. In particular, senior executives are under increasing pressure to find new ways of sustainably removing corporate waste, increasing profitability and improving shareholder returns in new and innovative ways – with a big microscope on their supply base.

We hope 2013 has started positively for you and are excited about working alongside you in what will no doubt be another challenging 12 months ahead.

Top 5 downloaded whitepapers

1. Why businesses struggle with indirect procurement
2. Powering your business through procurement outsourcing
3. The £10 billion ($16 billion) profit opportunity
4. Current perceptions of indirect procurement
5. Retail's best kept secret

Top 10 blogs viewed

1. Is indirect procurement following the path taken by the HR function?
2. Predictions for procurement in 2022
3. 2012 in review and predictions for 2013
4. Be wary of very high ROIs in procurement
5. How your business can apply more intelligence to the budgeting process
6. Reducing Marketers' scepticism of Procurement's value-add
7. Volatility may be procurement's best friend
8. Overcoming M&A challenges through centralization
9. Global myths of procurement outsourcing: series summary
10. Media & Entertainment: The rapid pace of media formats

Top 5 videos watched

1. Changing nature of business: who is responsible for cost management in an organization?
2. Changing nature of business: the implications of non-labor costs
3. Today's businesses spend more on third party costs than labor
4. The last thing on your mind could be the most profitable
5. Learn more about Proxima

Top 10 discussions

1. Does your procurement function exist to deliver savings? Then you're doomed...
2. Understanding the needs and wants of the North American CFO
3. Do you feel procurement is under-appreciated and under-invested in your organization?
4. Understanding strategic vs. tactical procurement outsourcing
5. Is indirect procurement following the path taken by the HR function?
6. Procurement outsourcing - powering business improvement 
7. Who's really responsible for cost management?
8. Global myths of procurement outsourcing: PO results in a loss of control and increased risk 
9. You can't shrink your way to greatness 
10. Does the SAP / Ariba deal signal the end of AP outsourcing?

Top 5 media mentions

1. Financial Times: Earnings lift bigger from non-labor cuts
2. Horses for Sources: Matthew Eatough approximates his US strategy
3. Spend Matters: Proxima - Procurement BPO with a category and customer-intimate twist
4. Procurement Leaders: Operational cost-cutting gives bigger boost than job cuts
5. Business Finance Magazine: Standing on the edge of the cliff: Cut costs, not jobs

Top 5 recommended books

1. Information is Beautiful by David McCandless
2. Organizational Change by Barbara Stilton and Dr Stephen Swailes
3. The Decision Book: Decision models for strategic thinkers by Roman Tschäppeler, Mikael Krogerus and Jenny Piening
4. How the way we talk can change the way we work by Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey
5. On becoming a leader by Warren Bennis

Top articles from friends of Proxima

1. Procurement Leaders:What will be procurement's most important skills in the next decade?
2. Outsource Magazine: Transforming Finance
3. Spend Matters: The procurement brain-drain: where is the talent going?
4. Economist: Global Grind

Please use the comment box below to share any interesting or stand-out pieces you read, watched or listened to in 2012.