Around the Coupa offices, we like the phrase “Show, don’t tell”. And Thursday’s Cloud Spend Management (CSM) debut webinar was a testament to this. Coupa’s very own VP of Marketing, Jason Hekl, gave the presentation–an all-inclusive introduction to the CSM platform. He really got into the guts of the applications, presenting demonstrations of the products (both e-procurement and expense management) that broke down the functionality in digestable bits.

Jason showed how companies can manage both indirect spending streams and expense spend from a single platform built atop a common approval work flow model, a single chart of accounts, and consolidated reporting dashboards and performance benchmarking. And he spoke to the benefits of managers having these tools and insights they need to at their disposal. Simply put, managers can more effectively control the company’s spending as it occurs.

The live webinar is over, but you can watch the archived presentation here. You’ll get a chance to see how the cloud is empowering companies to get 100% of indirect spend under control.  And it won’t just be all talk. You’ll get actual how-to’s that you can easily replicate within your organization.

Watch the free Cloud Spend Management webinar now.

I loved growing up in New Jersey.  The big yards that everyone had, the 4 different seasons, the passionate sports fans.  All great.  Except when I’d walk into our house after a fun day outside and get my first whiff of that awful smell.  It was unmistakeable.  ”Oh, no.  Dad is cooking LIVER!”  It was an annual thing that my Dad forced upon myself and my older brother.  Liver for dinner and no getting around it.  I’d break out a full bottle of Heinz, but it would hardly cover the taste.  It was, and still is, the most revolting thing I ever ate.

It got me thinking about enterprise applications (e.g., procurement and expense management) and how they are viewed in organizations.

Now, there are a couple kinds of applications. The first type of application is reserved for a few, well-trained power users; we’ll call this kind the “5 User App”.  This application is designed for a limited number of users in your company whose jobs are probably tied to the application.  Think: The receivables clerk in the finance system, a planner in a supply chain app, a pricing specialist in an optimization app, etc.   The other kind of application is the “Employee App”.  That’s the application that everyone might use periodically:  the purchase request system, the expense report system, the system that lets you check your paystub and setup your direct deposit, the employee performance review system, etc.

Now back to liver.   Liver is something that most everyone hates.  It isn’t pretty, it’s an awful experience and you fear it.  If liver was an business app, it better be the “5 User App”.    Those limited number of users might not like it,  but it’s their job to be specialists. They need to know how everything works.  They’ll spend 30-100% of their day in it.   Just keep it contained to only those 5 users.

Now if you serve liver to your entire company in the “Employee App”, you better have some great job security.  I couldn’t overrule my Dad, but employees will sniff out the liver and revolt against using it.  Your employee application needs to be so simple, so easy and so effective that people “just do it”.  No amount of change management, no amount of championing by senior leaders, no amount of CEO force will overcome the pervasive stench of a liver application.  It might take awhile for the troops to mobilize, but they are.

Don’t believe me?  Check out these tweets of disgruntled employees:

The moral of this story is easy: Consider more intuitive and–let’s be honest–less outdated business applications within your organization. You’ll see compliance shoot up. And you’ll see happier faces around the dinner table…er, workplace.

Note to Dad: I don’t think I’ll ever really get over my liver memories, but thanks for teaching me a valuable lesson.

Today’s post is the second in a three-part series by author, PI Window on Business host, and ProcurementInsights.com blogger, Jon Hansen. Part One of this series on Vendor Blogs can be found here.

Social Media and Procurement: Interactive Intelligence and the Emergence of Adaptive Learning Programs

Part 2 of 3: Social Media's Impact on Procurement

“Companies are scrambling to keep the skills of their buyers and supply managers up to the task of responding to wildly fluctuating costs and availability of key suppliers. They need high quality training courses that are easily and instantly available,” said ADR North America CEO Bill Michels, C.P.M. “The ADR Academy fills that need with nine key courses that anyone can take if they have Internet access and a credit card.”

The idea of adaptive learning (and its effects on Procurement) first came onto my radar when I received word that ADR North America was teaming with the Institute of Supply Management to “provide procurement and supply professionals with educational opportunities through the ISM – ADR School for Supply Management”.

My first reaction was to reflect back on the two-part PI Window on Business series titled “Is The Traditional Association Model Dead?”
It was an interesting and somewhat controversial series in that we assembled an international guest panel of thought leaders to discuss the changing dynamics of a profession and industry with which the majority of associations had seemed to have lost touch.

Of the many topics that were discussed, none stood out more noticeably than the declining value of the available certification courses which still seemed to reflect a Rodney Dangerfield, functional silo mindset of an adjunct position.
Trapped in a static time-warp that failed to recognize the strategic value of procurement, and its significant impact on increasingly complex supply chain practices within the emerging globalized enterprise, this “excuse me” ineffectiveness was reflected in listener comments, such as the following:

“Where it once did, the value gained from the traditional Association model can no longer compete for my attention. I need to collaborate bigger, faster, stronger – and at my convenience.
Associations could better leverage Web 2.0 to deliver a greater level of service to me as a supply chain professional by more actively, rapidly and efficiently aligning with the pace at which new, useful industry information becomes available – then delivering this information in an effective way, so as to keep me abreast of trends, best-practices and exchange ideas with fellow members; thereby making me a more valuable professional.
If done effectively, this would be a value proposition beyond what I see today in many other Associations. This value, in turn, may then attract membership at a higher rate; thus creating an even larger, and more valuable platform for so many to exchange real-life, real-time expertise and experience – again, contributing to my value as a professional.
The platform could also host polls for its members – such as rating the many certification and professional designation courses available to us. This service would be valuable to the many of us that seek continual professional development, but would appreciate our peers’ comparative assessments prior to making the spend.”
From Lance, Global Logistics Specialist, Panama (Maersk Logistics)

Growing sentiments like the one expressed above should have served as a general wake-up call for associations. In some cases, such as with ISM’s teaming with ADR, it did.

The Beginnings of Adaptive Learning: ADR Academy

Responding to the need to “collaborate bigger, faster, stronger – and at (the procurement professional’s) convenience,” the high quality courses which according to ADR’s CEO Bill Michels are “easily and instantly available,” deliver information in an effective way, so as to keep (the procurement professional) abreast of “trends and best-practices.” In short, adaptive learning is now a reality through the ADR Academy!
The key however, is that the real value is not confined to the convenient venue through which the curriculum is delivered.
ADR’s Michels, who is an author and acknowledged industry expert, brings to the table 20 years of experience with more than 200 clients worldwide.

The resulting 9 courses, which take between 90 minutes and 2 hours to complete, offer practical tools, hands-on exercises and case studies to help professionals to gain a working knowledge in critical areas of a modern supply chain practice.
Having had the opportunity to briefly review the Portfolio Analysis module, the aforementioned Michel’s expertise is clearly present in the material. The fact that ADR specializes in providing “high quality professional development programs for supply managers, using workshops, eLearning modules, Webinars and blended forms of teaching,” means that the ongoing veracity and relevance of the courses will be maintained to always reflect real-world conditions.

Referring once again to Lance, the Global Logistics Specialist from Panama, the ADR Academy is the answer in terms of making him (as well as professionals in general), more valuable to their companies and the industry as a whole.
This recent teaming of an ISM with an industry innovator and veteran who brings a practical perspective to the curriculum through a more relevant and accessible venue will likely continue. So too will the utilization of social networking groups and conversational platforms where professionals can meet and exchange knowledge and experiences.

In fact, the association model itself is likely to undergo significant transformations in which emerging media such as Internet Radio and Television will be leveraged to broaden the interactive venue to include worldwide affiliates. Replacing regional or physical Chapters, which are more representative of a somewhat disconnected, geographical focus of self-interest, these affiliations of interconnected communities of purpose will reflect the framework of the social networking world.
This will include everything from LIVE Event Feeds to multi-conversational platforms in which an unlimited number of individuals can communicate and disseminate reference material including video and audio media on the fly during a live conference or roundtable discussion.