In Stanley Kubrick's Cold War black comedy "Dr. Strangelove," the Soviets have developed a devastating "Doomsday Device," to be triggered by a nuclear attack on the U.S.S.R. It's supposed to act as a deterrent, but has been kept a secret. Asks an exasperated American president of the Russian ambassador: "Why didn't you tell the world?" To which the ambassador replies: "The Premier loves surprises."

By now, all manufacturers are fully up to speed on the Securities & Exchange Commission's new rule about disclosing the presence of conflict minerals in their products ... aren't they?

Despite ongoing economic and business environment challenges, world-class procurement organizations continue to outperform the peer group by a wide margin, up to $6m in cost savings for the typical large company. They deliver services at 19 percent lower cost with greater effectiveness and require 27 percent fewer full-time-equivalents (FTEs) per $1bn in spend. For many, efficiency gains have reached their practical limits. What's next?