Artificial intelligence might not be so threatening after all.

As part of its operating philosophy, Siemens, the German conglomerate operating in more than 200 countries and regions, applies a yearly target range of 3 to 5 percent of productivity growth to each of its subsidiaries, to go along with certain cost objectives. Not unexpectedly, Siemens Brazil has had a tough time hitting those targets over the last three years or so.

With companies making more and more use of non-permanent staff, procurement must collaborate to mitigate the risk.

First, Tesla surpassed General Motors and Ford Motor Co. in market cap. Then Ford announced cutting 10 percent of its salaried workers before firing CEO Mark Fields.