Workshops

Presentations Plus Training & Consulting Inc. (PPTC) offers a variety of business topics to develop staff skills, enhance performance, and contribute to increased profitability. These workshops can be tailored to accommodate budgets and staff availability. Programs can be offered in online or classroom training formats. The material can be adapted to address entry level and experienced staff.

PPTC can deliver custom in-house training programs tailored to your organization’s specific needs to build staffing skills, competencies and distinctions. Training programs complement hiring and retention strategies. Keeping staff current with leading practices is a hallmark of successful organizations.

Workshops

1. Better Ways to Better Deals – Negotiations

The two-day workshop focuses on negotiation strategies which enable buyers and sellers to build value in their business agreements.

The agenda covers:

  • Basic rules for success
  • Breaking down barriers
  • Heuristic models
  • Identifying which issues can be included
  • Key elements of negotiations
  • Mitigating bias in decision making
  • Negotiation traps
  • Sources and use of power positions
  • Strategies and tactics
  • Team negotiations
  • Timing and negotiations

The interactive workshop uses leading theories and pragmatic experiential lessons to draw on through the use of exercises, case studies, role-playing, and discussions. The content can be applied to private sector and/or public sector entities.

2. Good Planets Are Hard To Buy – CSR

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability practices have come a long way but it’s acknowledged that there is considerable room for improvement. Private sector organizations want to do their part and ensure profitability. Stakeholders are expecting social and economic development through business practices. The circular economy strategies are reshaping the consumption and conservation links across supply chains. Social procurement is a part of the new lexicon for supply chain professionals.

The two-day workshop focusing on corporate social responsibility and sustainability practices will examine social procurement and the role of the supply chain professional in this complex and emerging area. It will explore the role of supply chain management in environmental, social and governance policies. It will also examine the role of business and the challenges and opportunities between economic factors, environmental concerns and social values. Several methods and examples for affecting change with measurable and quantifiable outcomes will be provided.

The agenda covers:

  • Applying the total cost of ownership model
  • CSR and continuous improvement
  • Defining and measuring value
  • Focusing on the 4 main supply chain and sustainability responsibilities
  • Quantifying economic and social development options
  • The circular economy shift
  • The emergence of social procurement strategies
  • Working with social enterprises

The interactive format is comprised of lectures, case studies, discussions and exercises designed to increase awareness of varying perspectives and develop the thinking and preparedness to take action within your respective mandates. This program aims to inform and inspire you to raise your game. The workshop complements the content in Good Planets Are Hard To Buy – author, Larry Berglund, SCMP, MBA

3. The Basics of Buying

The two-day workshop looks at how procurement in organizations can affect profitability and fiscal management.

The agenda covers:

  • Business process improvement
  • Capital and operating budgets
  • Competitive bidding laws
  • Contract management
  • Corporate Social Responsibility
  • Ethical conduct
  • KPIs and metrics
  • Measuring value
  • Organizational structures
  • Policies and procedures
  • Purchasing programs
  • Service level agreements
  • Shared services
  • Stakeholder issues
  • Supplier performance evaluations

The workshop draws from experiential lessons and leading practices in supply chain management through case studies, lectures, and discussions.

This workshop can also be delivered at a strategic management level. While including the content, it focuses more on strategic issues and less on tactical issues. This includes staff development, trends, long-term planning, operational reviews, engaging with stakeholders, and measuring performance through objective models.

4. Public Sector Purchasing

The two-day workshop is similar in content to the Basics of Buying but takes a public sector perspective on common issues. (See above). It also considers legal imperatives, drafting RFX documents, evaluating proposals, working with public officials, and cooperative purchasing agreements.

The workshop draws from experiential lessons and leading practices in the public sector through case studies, lectures, and discussions.

5. Leadership and Professionalism

The two-day workshop addresses the affects of values, assumptions, beliefs, and expectations on business decisions. Through individual reflections and assessments participants will identify where and how they can be more effective in leading change, communicating, and strategic thinking. The participants will learn how to improve their managerial style and contribute to effective team building.

The content draws from leading educators and business leaders including, Csikszentmihalyi, Clawson, Goleman, Kotter, Kouzes, Posner and others that have made a difference in small and large organizations. The workshop provides practical insights contributing to transformational behaviours and results.

The session discusses the roles of the team and/or corporate leadership. Interpersonal skills development and techniques are shared to improve performance.

The agenda covers:

  • Building trust
  • Effective leadership strategies
  • Emotional intelligence
  • Ethics
  • Leadership perspectives
  • Leadership profiles
  • Leading change
  • Managerial styles
  • Supply chain skills and competencies
  • Using power when leading teams

6. Ethical Behaviour and Social Responsibilities

The two-day workshop focuses individual, corporate and community responsibilities through interactive discussions. The agenda considers the variety of perspectives on business ethics and corporate social responsibility. Participants should be prepared to discuss their organization’s shareholder and stakeholder value commitments.

The workshop will review international codes of conduct and standards which are being adopted by small, medium and multi-national organizations. The ethics of care and ethics of justice will be used to demonstrate differences in values from a corporate strategy and how these impact community benefits.

The content draws from materials from leading university studies, social and humanitarian theorists, and business leaders. The workshop will use supply chain practices as one of the means of relating the ideas to actual practices. Larry led the review of the Supply Chain Management Association’s Professional Code of Conduct in 2012.

The agenda covers:

  • Business ethics
  • Community engagement
  • Ethical dilemmas
  • Ethics of care and ethics of justice
  • Professional conduct
  • Social responsibility
  • Supplier codes of conduct
  • Workplace harassment

7. Operations Management

The two-day workshop uses cases, exercises, and quantitative examples.

The agenda covers:

  • An overview of operations management in manufacturing and service sectors
  • Capacity planning
  • Cost/volume analysis
  • Design of goods and product development
  • Ethics and organizational strategies
  • Forecasting
  • Inventory management
  • Managing quality
  • Price index model for managing costs
  • Project management frameworks and tools

Participants should be prepared to do quantitative calculations during the session using Excel or an equivalent program.

8. Supply Chain Finance

The two-day workshop covers international trading agreements and the supply chain finance (SCF) solutions which enable small, medium entrepreneurs to work with large multi-national organizations. While SCF content is a large part of the agenda, other supply chain management issues are related to provide a comprehensive view of current strategies being used by leading organizations.

The agenda covers:

  • An overview of operations management
  • Business process improvement
  • Capital and operating evaluation models
  • Inventory management
  • Make or buy decisions
  • Measuring returns on increased sales versus operational savings
  • Measuring value
  • Productivity improvement
  • Supply chain finance options
  • The expected monetary value method
  • The price index model

Participants should be prepared to do quantitative calculations during the session using Excel® or an equivalent program.

9. Inventory Management

Most businesses are challenged with the need to have enough stock on hand without having too much capital tied up. The one-day workshop provides the basics of inventory management and how to optimize staffing resources and service levels.

The agenda covers:

  • Purpose for carrying inventory discussion
    • Optional strategies
  • Warehousing costs
    • How to estimate
    • Measuring effects on inventory costs
  • ABC analysis model
    • Setting and managing priorities
  • Inventory metric calculations
    • Turnover rates
    • Carrying costs
    • Order quantities
    • Cycle counts
    • Days inventory held
  • Forecasting models
    • Moving average
    • Weighted-moving average
    • Exponential smoothing
    • Seasonal
  • Make or Buy calculations
    • To inventory or not to inventory

Participants should be prepared to do quantitative calculations during the session using Excel® or an equivalent program.

10. Contract Management and Supplier Performance

The strong correlations between these components of supply chain management are explored in depth. Supplier performance issues may be addressed during or following a crisis. This session provides insights on how to mitigate performance risks and also on quantifying the risks. This latter information can be used to make the business case for not awarding to the lowest bidder. There is a lot of pressure to award to a low bidder and there are legal considerations for not doing so. Options will be explored to address these issues in the ½ day workshop.

Where non-procurement staff are often involved in contract management, they may overlook contractual terms and conditions and invite scope creep – in favour of the contractor. The session discusses ways to ensure performance for long-term benefits for all parties.

This agenda covers:

  • Contract management responsibilities
  • Overview of supplier performance evaluations
  • Quantifying performance outcomes
  • Supplier management strategies

11. Social Procurement Strategies and Practices Workshop

Social procurement is a strategy where the spend through procurement creates a social impact. A social impact is a measurable improvement in the living standards of individuals, groups and communities. A social procurement strategy complements the traditional model of determining the best value.

A social procurement strategy affects health, education, and employment without governmental subsidies. There is a direct benefit to all stakeholders. Social procurement contributes to social capital and economic development.

Social procurement is part of the new lexicon for supply chain professionals. This workshop focuses on CSR issues and practices with a focus on engagement with social enterprises. What is a social enterprise (SE)? An SE can be a for-profit or not-for-profit entity where the majority of the benefits are directed to a social objective with limited distribution to shareholders or owners.

The workshop uses a total cost of ownership model to demonstrate value. The economic multiplier effect of spending money within a local region is provided along with Canadian market examples. We also look at how to engage with social enterprises.

We also explore the emergence of the Circular Economy (CE) and how that is juxtaposed on CSR. The CE is a global shift in redefining values. We will look at leading organizations and what they are doing – and where we need to reconsider conservation versus consumption.

The workshop will also cause us to reflect on the future of the role of supply chain professionals.

This workshop can accommodate ½ day to 2-day formats.

The agenda covers:

  • Going beyond green
  • The (4) main supply chain responsibilities
  • Total cost of ownership
  • Working with social enterprises
  • Measuring value
  • The shift to the Circular Economy
  • The future of supply chains

12. Miscellaneous Workshop Sessions

We also offer topics covered in the one or two-day workshops in condensed presentations. These presentations can be from 1 hour to 1/2 day sessions or longer with more than one topic being addressed.

The agenda can include:

  • Best and Final Offers
  • Business Ethics
  • Circular Economy Issues
  • Competitive Bidding
  • Contract Management
  • Dealing with Sole Sources
  • Developing a Price Index Model
  • Developing KPIs
  • Drafting Policies
  • Evaluating Bids and Proposals
  • Inventory Management
  • Measuring Performance
  • Negotiation tactics
  • Operations Management Practices
  • Quality Management in Operations
  • Service Level Agreements
  • Social Procurement
  • Strategic Management
  • Supplier Performance
  • Sustainability Practices
  • Total Cost of Ownership
  • Working with Social Enterprises