Practical insight for procurement leaders.
Should Costing: The Buyer's Negotiation Edge
competitio.Price comparisons alone are no longer enough in procurement. Should costing provides an objective cost baseline and turns price negotiation into a fact-based strateg…
Read article →Cognitive Biases in Procurement Negotiations: Game Theory
competitio.Six common cognitive biases cost buyers real money at the negotiating table — from the supposed leverage of proving high margins to the belief that suppliers always…
Read article →The Three Levers That Decide Every Negotiation
competitio.Negotiating power does not come from skill but from structure: competition, comparability and commitment decide every negotiation before the first conversation begin…
Read article →Negotiating with Hostage-Takers: Tactics for Buyers
competitio.Crisis manager Tobias Ruthe negotiates with hostage-takers and cyber extortionists — situations that offer no second chance. His principles on anchor demands, willin…
Read article →Monopoly Negotiations: Information as a Negotiating Lever
competitio.Whether a supplier is truly a monopolist is decided less by the market situation than by the information available to both sides. This article shows how buyers can m…
Read article →Self-Made Competition Barriers in Procurement
competitio.Competition is the most effective lever in procurement – yet many organizations unwittingly weaken it themselves. This article reveals the most common self-made comp…
Read article →Too Few Bidders in Tenders: Causes and Solutions
competitio.When too few suppliers take part in a tender, this is rarely a matter of chance but the result of bidders' rational calculus. An analysis grounded in auction theory…
Read article →Game Theory in Procurement: From Negotiation to Mechanism
competitio.Traditional procurement leans on bilateral negotiation, where buyer and supplier bargain as adversaries and information stays hidden. This cornerstone article shows…
Read article →The 3Cs of Procurement: Competition, Comparability, Credibility
competitio.Most procurement debates fixate on the auction format, but the environment around it decides the outcome. This guide breaks down the 3Cs — Competition, Comparability…
Read article →Procurement Auction Formats: English, Dutch & Sealed-Bid
competitio.Reverse English, Dutch, Anglo-Dutch, sealed-bid or a negotiauction — the format you choose decides how hard suppliers compete. This guide explains each procurement a…
Read article →When the Cost Equivalence Theorem Breaks Down in Procurement
competitio.In theory, the Cost Equivalence Theorem says your choice of auction format does not change what you pay. In practice, capacity constraints, risk-averse suppliers and…
Read article →Lot Sizing in Procurement: Balancing Scale and Competition
competitio.In multi-item tenders, how you slice the work into lots quietly decides how much competition you get. This article turns Competitio's research framework, the Competi…
Read article →Apples to Apples: Comparison Price for Tender Evaluation
competitio.The cheapest bid is rarely the cheapest deal. This article shows how the Comparison Price Approach turns quality, risk and payment terms into transparent monetary ad…
Read article →Delivering cost reductions with gametheory in sector-regulated procurement
competitio.The challenge of sector-regulated procurement Utilities, grid operators, transportation, and mining companies are subject to European and national regulation. Sector…
Read article →Automated cartel detection in supplier networks using graph theory
competitio.Cartels raise prices and thus procurement costs substantially and are notoriously difficult for most organizations to identify. Given the impact of hefty fines and d…
Read article →Game theory for procurement: How to identify your first procurement pilot?
competitio.Many organizations adopt game theory based on its value during the procurement process. The challenge is understanding which projects to shortlist, particularly thos…
Read article →Embedding Negotiation Excellence Sustainably in Your Organization
competitio.Many companies invest in training programs and external consulting, yet the impact often fades after a short time. Sustainable negotiation excellence does not emerge…
Read article →Why Strategic Thinking Is Decisive in Negotiations
competitio.Negotiations are shaped by persistent assumptions that rest on intuition rather than systematic thinking. Many of them lead consistently to suboptimal outcomes. This…
Read article →How Strategic Negotiators Deliberately Shape Human Behavior
competitio.Why do people rarely act on purely rational grounds in negotiations, and how can precisely this behavior be shaped in a systematic way? Behavioral design combines in…
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