Ross McCarthy, Author at Keystone Procurement

Green procurement and the role of innovation clusters

Green procurement is an emerging area in procurement that is taking off as a discipline. This is a result of its codification in social and legal/regulatory procurement principles that focus on economic, social and environmental factors. As a discipline, green procurement focuses on the efforts of companies to be ethical…

Ross McCarthy14th December 2018

Procurement Strategy

How to maximise procurement strategy outcomes

A frequent topic that comes up when we discuss commercial strategy and tactics with business owners is how they can maximise procurement strategy outcomes or general strategic outcomes in their businesses. Procurement is seen by many as a process rather than a method. In our view, this perception needs to…

Ross McCarthy2nd November 2018

Procurement Strategy

Construction bids and tenders post-Carillion – how z-score models can help

A common procurement sourcing challenge is to evaluate how financially healthy a potential supplier is. On the supplier side, there is a similar strategic issue for companies when evaluating their risk exposure as sub contractors. In this post, we explore how z-score models could help companies avoid situations like the ones many…

Ross McCarthy9th October 2018

Procurement Sourcing

Can approaches to contract management solve hospital overcrowding?

In this post, we examine a report on public procurement in the National Health Service in the UK. It focuses on bed occupancy and how contract management techniques can be used to improve efficiency. We also look at what they could mean for public procurement contracts in Ireland. *** The…

Ross McCarthy19th September 2018

Procurement Sourcing

Procurement sourcing: the potential impacts of corporation tax changes in the EU

Brexit, the current US President, and many other factors threaten global supply chains and procurement sourcing options. One factor, that is hugely influential in the location of businesses is the range of tax environments available to businesses. The new breed of company is changing the degree to which tax arbitrage…

Ross McCarthy12th September 2018

Procurement Sourcing

Combining Sourcing Expenditure – Tesco and Carrefour take the fight to Amazon

There are interesting manoeuvres taking place currently among the largest supermarkets in the world. Over the past couple of months, Tesco, a UK based retailer, and Carrefour, a French domiciled international retailer have announced joined sourcing expenditure plans for their respective businesses. Tesco and Carrefour have a combined annual turnover…

Ross McCarthy15th August 2018

Procurement Sourcing

Procurement sourcing: is your ethical cup of tea, actually ethical?

The ethics of ethics Procurement sourcing at face value seems a straightforward endeavour. Suppliers respond to confirmed demand from a buyer and business is subsequently done between them. Globalisation however is making these relationships increasing complex. There are often laws demanding suppliers treat their employees in line with international labour laws.…

Ross McCarthy27th July 2018

Bid Management

Bid management challenges – how suppliers are evaluated

Bid Management Challenges We know bid management is an area many suppliers find difficult. Bid management refers to the process that suppliers have to follow in order to respond to tenders issued by buyers. These buyers are public or private organisations using formal processes to buy goods, services, or works…

Ross McCarthy3rd July 2018

Procurement Strategy

Procurement Transparency in Irish University Expenditure

Procurement Transparency in University Expenditure Last year, we undertook an analysis of procurement transparency and procurement expenditure report publication in Local Authorities. It led to a marked improvement in the publication of this data (e.g. Dublin City Council went from 0% to full compliance). This year we have done a…

Ross McCarthy8th June 2018

Procurement Sourcing

Strategic sourcing: a suppliers guide to the buyer’s toolkit

Strategic sourcing is a phrase that is often used, but not always understood. Frequently, when discussing how buyers see the market and determine how they seek to procure from it, we find businesses have a low level of knowledge and understanding of the techniques used to ensure sourcing is strategic…

Ross McCarthy11th May 2018