Blacks spend less money in black-owned businesses than other racial and ethnic groups spend in businesses owned by members of their groups, including Hispanics and Asians.

World-class procurement organizations now deliver services at 17 percent less cost than typical companies while offering improved effectiveness, largely by becoming more customer-centric, according to research from The Hackett Group Inc.

Years ago, supply management professionals turned to low-cost countries to manufacture products, establish services operations and source materials in an effort to improve the bottom line for their companies. They found that inexpensive labor in India, China and emerging Asian countries made this new low-cost-country strategy successful "” despite requiring the management of lengthy, complex supply chains. Then the world began to change.

As businesses and governments implement cost-cutting and other efficiencies to help them recover from the deep recession, now is the time to consider collaborative purchasing as both a short- and long-term strategy to cut costs.