When we make decisions individually, the results can be all over the place. We may nail some of our choices, but be unsuccessful in others due to lack of expertise or not knowing what we don’t know. According to research by neuroscientist, Mariano Sigman, during a recent TED Talk, the wisdom of the crowd can produce the results we’re looking for when autonomy is falling short. By interacting with others through the thoughtful and reasonable exchange of information, crowds collectively come up with better judgments and have a stronger ability to solve problems.

At the recent Prime Advantage Fall Conference, negotiation expert, Julie Kowalski of Spizzerinctum Group, held a professional development session that presented the tools for becoming a great negotiator. She outlined the factors affecting successful negotiations, shifts in strategies, vocabulary to use, debunked assumptions, and a bundle of top techniques. Here are some of the tactics that were discussed that you can employ today to become a leader in your negotiations:

We’re in the era of “always-on transformation,” says organizational change expert, Jim Hemerling, during his TED Talk on tactics businesses can use to successfully implement change. The rate of globalization and technological advancements require organizations to be nimble to adapt to an ever-shifting landscape. Change can be difficult, exhausting, and we typically resist it when it’s imposed on us. But if leaders are more proactive in their execution, they won’t leave employees in crisis mode. Decision-makers need to resist the comfort of focusing on short-term results so as not to mortgage the company’s future. So how can this be accomplished seamlessly?

“There is a new technological institution that will fundamentally change how we exchange value,” says Bettina Warburg during her Ted Talk on blockchain and it’s growing importance in trade and the economy. Blockchain is the latest way we as a society are trying to lower uncertainty about one another so that we can exchange value. As we’ve evolved throughout history, we’ve built formal institutions like banks, governments, and corporations, all to facilitate trade with confidence. Blockchain is the next generation of enabling trade with increased levels of assurance.

There’s a shift happening in manufacturing as prosperous companies are increasingly focusing on outcomes, rather than solely on products to drive profits and growth.  In the past, it was sufficient to strive to meet each individual segment’s needs. But now, outcome-centric organizations are targeting and tailoring value propositions to each individual customer. To achieve this, companies must have a strong partnership with their customers so that they know them well enough to understand the specific outcomes they’re seeking.

None of us is as strong as all of us. And that’s true for all walks of life -- whether you’re playing tug of war, donating to a charity, or trying to come up with a creative solution. The more bodies and -- more importantly -- the more minds you can string together will exponentially increase your chances of reaching your goal. And the world of procurement is seeing this more than ever as it is crowd sourcing to help uncover innovations and solutions to help solve its growing needs. As job responsibilities continue to pile up, even the most elite buyers cannot keep up with every trend, best practice, and new regulation. They’re seeking out “the crowd” and becoming much wiser because of it.

Prime Advantage and riskmethods recently collaborated on a webinar for Prime Advantage Members highlighting some of the biggest threats in supply chain management today. The session was hosted by Bill DeMartino, General Manager of North America for riskmethods. A variety of topics were covered, including supply chain management myths, challenges, and solutions.

At the recent Prime Advantage Spring Conference, supply chain expert Dr. Russell Morey held a professional development session tackling the current issues in purchasing and supply chain management. According to Dr. Morey, the skillset required to be successful in this arena is changing. More than ever before, a premium is being placed on analytical, negotiation, and conceptual skills. Procurement professionals need to be adept at understanding costs, navigating supplier relations, and have a firm grasp on domestic and global markets.

When a company’s engineering department is being stretched to its limits, this can have a debilitating effect on the organization. For one, this constrains the number of projects that can be in full-process at any given time. This in turn stifles production and innovation, which can weaken a company’s bottom line and decrease its competitive advantage. Limited engineering resources also leads to engineers having to work on administrative tasks rather than being able to stay dedicated to their core manufacturing competency. This creates a ripple effect throughout the organization as procurement isn’t able to source in the most effective way possible without thorough feedback from engineering. This causes management and executives to find themselves in a constant state of scrambling to assess where resources should be imperfectly allocated.

Procurement professionals are always striving to not only make better decisions, but to make them more rapidly. The level of intelligence purchasing departments can attain on precisely where supply chain risks lie, as well as on the most cutting edge solutions to dealing with them, will dictate how successful they are in reaching these goals. According to Spend Matters, as supply chains become increasingly global, the possible threats become more and more of a moving target.