SYNERGY 2012 Speakers & Topics

SYNERGY 2012 Opening Remarks
Presented by: Robert D. Hisrich, Garvin Professor of Global Entrepreneurship and Director of the Walker Center for Global Entrepreneurship at Thunderbird School of Global Management

SYNERGY Keynote Presentation

How to Win an Unfair Fight: Influencing People You Have No Authority Over – Functional Decision Makers, Leadership and Your Suppliers
Presented by: Garrison Wynn, CSP, CEO of Wynn Solutions

A great idea rarely wins out on its own merit. Sound, well-structured logic regularly loses out to mediocre ideas from people who really know how to influence. This enlightening, research-based session delves into the human condition, revealing that the true key to influencing some of your most important stakeholders – functional decision makers, leadership and suppliers – is not intelligence or logic, but an understanding of what people really value.

This program delivers the tips and strategies you need to make people see the value of your ideas so you're well positioned to gain agreement. This entertaining and researched based keynote presentation will teach attendees:

How to establish and dramatically improve key relationships through communication, change and influence
How to make sure your input is seen as consistently valuable to others
What the most influential people have in common and how top performers gain agreement quickly
Why people don’t want to change and what you can do about it
How to clearly explain value and stand up for your budget limitations
Tips for being more influential when dealing with difficult people or big egos
The importance of good first impressions in order to develop effective partnerships
Why some people disagree with everything, and what you can do about it
How to make multiple generations work better together

SYNERGY Best Practice Sharing Roundtables

SYNERGY 2012 will feature best practice sharing roundtables; attendees can select and participate in any three of the following roundtable sessions at the conference:

Flourishing in a decentralized environment
Reporting results to various stakeholders
SRM deployment techniques
Considerations for costs associated with RFI/RFPs
Making the most of spend analytics
Marketing procurement’s value across functions and up to the c-suite
Necessary soft skills for procurement professionals
Leveraging LinkedIn to expand your capital

SYNERGY Breakout Sessions

How to Effectively Measure and Report Cost Savings
Presented by: William Dorn, Vice President, Operations and Joe Payne, Vice President, Professional Services, Source One LLC

With more and more companies focused on budgetary reductions regardless of business requirements, how can procurement clearly demonstrate the impact their initiatives have on the organization?

Effectively Measuring and Reporting Cost Savings will demonstrate how to set proper cost savings expectations with finance, the c-suite and other interested parties, including providing a clear definition of savings and tying accomplishments back to the cost center. The presentation will explain the gap between procurement’s unit cost saving projections and finance’s budgetary reporting. By the end of the presentation, participants will understand:

The different ways to measure savings – including unit cost reduction, discount enhancement, tracking savings for index-based commodities, and even identifying the impact procurement can have on items that have never been purchased before
The distinction between hard dollar and soft cost savings
How to effectively track, measure and report savings to demonstrate procurement’s value to the entire organization, including what types of reporting tools are available, and when to use each
The “Next Practice” of savings sustainability – compliance and lost savings reports

Retaining Talent in a Changing World
Presented by: Dawn Tiura Evans, CEO Sourcing Interests Group

Most companies know that hiring and retaining the right people are critical to their ongoing success. Many make the right hires…but few have proven track records when it comes to training and retaining them. This is especially true in supply chain, where at one time, people didn’t necessarily choose these jobs, but rather fell into them. Over the past twenty years, supply chain/procurement roles, once considered back-office and clerical, have emerged from the recession as strategic and critical. Many colleges are now creating relevant majors for students choosing this area as a career. Understanding generational differences is a key factor in motivating employees to give you 100% all the time. Succession planning is also a critical component, yet most organizations do not have a proper succession plan in place. This presentation will share some insights on the changing landscape of talent acquisition and management, and will provide a perspective on how to overcome the obstacles associated with retaining the best talent. It will also discuss the importance of a succession plan and offer best practices in creating one.

Across the Great Divide: Bridging the Generational Gap of Four Generations at Work
Presented by: Carmen Ferme, President of New World Leadership LLC

Do any of these statements ring a bell? “This generation has no work ethic!" “What happened to working your way up, paying your dues?” “What does it matter what hours I work, as long as I get the work done?”

If any of these ring familiar, then don’t miss this session!

Carmen Ferme, President of New World Leadership LLC, specializes in Generational Diversity and Communications. Having managed several multi-generational teams throughout her career, she has experienced the collision of differences in work ethic and job expectancy and how this can impede organizational progress if not recognized and dealt with effectively. By understanding what drives the differences we can then foster a solution focused environment to help bridge those gaps.

In this session, you will learn:

What/who are the key influencers in each generation
How today’s generational mix will influence the emergence of future leaders
What each generation values and how it translates into their work ethic
How technology has contributed to the generational gaps at work
What you can do immediately to bridge the gaps among those you manage
What you can do immediately to bridge the gaps within teams to which you belong

The Internal Marketing Symphony: Orchestrating Supply Chain & Procurement Marketing Across the Organization
Presented by: Elaine Fogel, President and CMO of Solutions Marketing & Consulting/ Professional Speaker

In an “instant world,” companies with a holistic market orientation that respond quickly to customer needs will succeed. To accomplish this, timely communication and collaboration between all internal departments is essential. This presentation will give supply chain and procurement executives tools and ideas to market their contracts, wins, and savings internally for enhanced SCM relationships and increased compliance, trust, and recognition by other functions, right up to the C-suite.

In this session, you will learn:

The definition of internal marketing
The benefits of internal marketing to supply chain and procurement functions
The importance and role of internal relationship marketing
Developing an internal marketing strategy
The role of social media in supply chain marketing

Change Management - It's the soft stuff that's hard
Presented by: David Wilson, President, Stirling Consulting Group

Are you planning to transform the Supply Management department? Are you trying to broaden the reach and role of Supply Management within your company? Are you about to embark on an outsourcing initiative?

Change is a constant in today’s competitive business environment. Organizations cannot afford for change initiatives to fail. How you manage people through significant change, such as these examples, is one predictor of an initiative’s success.

Drawing on his experience leading numerous large-scale organizational change initiatives, David Wilson will explain what change management entails, why it is important, and how to apply change management processes, tools and techniques to your Supply Management activities.

Additional SYNERGY Speakers - topics and/or session details to be announced…

Procurement Mega Trends
Presented by: Phillip L. Carter, D.B.A., Executive Director; Harold E. Fearon Chair of Purchasing Management at Arizona State University

Supplier Relationship Management
Presented by: Ann-Marie Yules, Consultant: Supply Chain Management, Accenture

Supplier Presentations

The following suppliers will present sessions regarding their Corporate United agreement at SYNERGY:

OfficeMax presents its Total Office Solutions Agreement through Corporate United
Presented by: Valya Broyer, Director, Corporate United Program, OfficeMax

As a former member of the purchasing team, Valya always realized that she was only as good as her suppliers were. Valya will focus the first part of her session on what OfficeMax is doing to continually improve service to its customers. Her discussion will cover key leadership changes, as well as highlights of the new OfficeMax five-year strategic plan.

The second part of her session will address the recent trend of moving employees out of the corporate office and into the home office. She will discuss some of the reasons behind this trend, as well as provide on-line resources to help you implement or improve your own current work-at-home program. To wrap it up, Valya will discuss a variety of ways OfficeMax can bring added value to your work-at-home employees.

Learn more about this supplier and speaker.

CVS Caremark presents its Pharmacy Benefits Agreement through Corporate United
Presented by: Todd Rooks, Strategic Sales Executive, CVS Caremark

As a pharmacy innovation company, CVS Caremark is continuously developing new ways to lower costs and improve health. They are making a difference by reinventing pharmacy to guide plan members on their path to better health. CVS Caremark is committed to education, policy and programs that will help people get and stay on the medications prescribed by their doctors. Failure to stay on the right medication is a common cause of preventable hospitalizations and illnesses, adding $300 billion to the cost of health care each year. In this 30-minute session, Todd Rooks, Strategic Sales Executive, will present information on the rapidly evolving pharmaceutical landscape and the innovative solutions that CVS Caremark offers Corporate United member companies to help manage their pharmacy benefit plans. Specific strategies covered will include maximizing utilization of 90-day prescriptions and effective management of specialty medications.

Learn more about this supplier and speaker.

Volt presents its Contingent Workforce Solutions Agreement through Corporate United

Learn more about this supplier and speaker.

Weichert presents its Relocation Services Agreement through Corporate United
Presented by: John Bartoloni, CRP, Vice President, Strategic Relationships, Weichert Relocation Resources Inc.

A mobile workforce helps companies expand their presence, grow their business and groom future leaders. But relocation is also surprisingly complex and impacted by everything from turbulent real estate markets and tax regulations to changes in business strategy. Particularly in today’s economic climate, controlling relocation costs, managing employee expectations and avoiding loss of significant investment requires access to the very best relocation subject matter expertise.

Understanding the needs of their members, Corporate United (CU) partnered with Weichert Relocation Resources Inc. (WRRI) to establish a unique suite of relocation solutions designed to deliver the best cost and service results. In our 30-minute meeting, you’ll meet with John Bartoloni, vice president, strategic relationships, who will help you learn more about what differentiates WRRI and how the CU offering helps members by:

Implementing more competitive relocation policies.
Achieving total transparency through our robust MyWIN technology solution.
Delivering an aggressive pricing matrix leveraged by the buying power of CU’s membership.
Consolidating and controlling maverick spend.
Managing risks by ensuring compliance with tax and other regulations.
Minimizing exceptions and measuring success.

At WRRI, we focus on building collaborative partnerships with our clients rather than simply completing transactions for them. And our dedicated CU service delivery team has one overriding objective: to become your trusted partner for workforce mobility management. Start by exploring how WRRI can help you improve your workforce mobility.

Learn more about this supplier and speaker.