Its easy to say you should reach out to your suppliers and collaborate to drive innovation, improve quality, etc.  However, if the relationship started by you bidding them aggressively, selecting them for being the lowest cost provider and then negotiating out clauses, why would the supplier really help you innovate?  And what are the odds that that supplier is even interested or capable of collaborating?  Building trust is key.  So is selecting the right supplier in the first place.  And that starts during the sourcing process.  But this requires a change in attitude in most companies.

• How do you create the win-win scenario?
• How do you do so while still meeting cost objectives?
• What discovery practices help find the right suppliers?

Share your thoughts here, or join Maersk, Schindler and other companies at Ariba LIVE in Barcelona as they discuss "Driving Buyer-Seller Collaboration through eSourcing"

SAP is a mission-critical system designed to help improve efficiencies and access to information within your enterprise. However, its just not designed to enable effective collaboration beyond the 4 walls of your organization, thereby limiting its potential.  You’ve already invested a significant amount of money and resources, so how can you unlock more value from SAP without investing more CapEx and time?  Specifically,

How do you extend your SAP system to effectively collaborate with your suppliers?

How can you improve user adoption?

How can you improve spend capture through your SAP system?

At Ariba LIVE in Barcelona, Valeris Villard & Najib Zouggar from Air Liquide will discuss how they are doing this and more.

What approaches and technology are you using?  Join your peers at Ariba LIVE to share your best practices, or share your ideas with the community right here.

Kholo Mabilo's story of how she's built her company, which provides VIP toilets in South African mines, inspired everyone at Ariba LIVE 2012 - Las Vegas today. The Networked Economy is truly changing lives.