As you read on, keep in mind that I was determined to ensure that the CFO/COO appear as powerful as possible in the eyes of Kodak employees. This I believed to be vital to his ability to influence change within the organization.
While at Kodak Gallery, I also served as Chairperson of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee. In that role, one of my key objectives was to increase the company’s visibility in the community. The committee and employees volunteered their time on community projects, hosted various events, and worked with local businesses, schools, and other organizations to fulfill the mission.
I would now use my role as Chairperson to embark on a much different plan, but the focus would be solely on the new CFO/COO. This plan required a different level of inventiveness, and I elected to act unaided by the committee members.
After a considerable amount of contemplation around various schemes, I contacted a close associate of mine who is the editor of the Capital Press, a subdivision of the Oakland Post Newspaper, where he also served as a writer. I asked him if he would be interested in writing and article on the new “Kodak Gallery” CFO/COO and including a full-color photo. I saw this as an opportunity to accomplish several goals simultaneously with this single act.
First, it would increase the company’s visibility; second, it would increase awareness of the CFO throughout the company; and third, it would essentially guarantee my total alignment with the CFO/CFO. This was essential, as I would need his support, perceived or other, to challenge the wasteful spending by our marketing department.
My associate agreed to write the article. This associate also just happened to serve on the board of my non-profit so I figured this part of the plan might be fairly simple.
I followed up with the CFO/COO to coordinate the interview. He wanted to know the exact nature of the interview, at which time I forwarded a list of questions that the editor and I had prepared. After a brief review he agreed to the interview, and shortly thereafter the full-color quarter page article appeared in the newspaper with brief bio.
I was quite proud of this and made certain that the full article was distributed and posted around the company for ALL to see. From break rooms and corridors to the main lobby, one would have to have been completely blind to miss it. And of course, no one within the organization except the CFO/COO and I was aware that I arranged the write-up. As I saw it, it was important that my involvement remain anonymous, as it would certify his apparent clout if it appeared to the employees that it was actually the newspaper that initiated the interview.
I must admit that the entire idea felt like one of the most selfish things that I had ever done; however, keep in mind that I was not only doing my job as the Purchasing Manager by seeking to control costs, but I was also doing my part to try to save Kodak. And who am I kidding? I’m not nearly as noble as this might sound. I was also looking to pull off something extraordinary, a feather in my own cap.
But let’s not lose sight of the fact that the new CFO was obviously quite accomplished in his career, and I believed that it was very important that others throughout the organization be fully aware of this.
His background included nearly 20 years of progressive finance and operations experience, and he had managed global finance organizations, processes, and projects for more than 10 years, as well as integrated supply chain, procurement and contract management. He was also a former Plant Controller/Sr. Financial Analyst for nearly 5 years prior to joining Kodak. He earned his BS degree, Finance and Business Management, at Virginia Tech, and a MBA in Finance from Indiana University. The new CFO clearly appeared armed and up to the task.
Over time, our efforts within the organization increasingly began to meet in areas around cost initiatives. Having noticed this, I took it upon myself to start providing reports to him to highlight spend and cost savings that I was able to capture. This was a very calculated move on my part, as the true intent of this reporting was to clearly reveal that that none of the savings were from the marketing group. To my relief, the CFO apparently found benefit in the reporting and not long afterward I was officially absorbed into his team as a direct report.
Around that time, our conversations about the out of control spending became expressly more candid and his directive to me was to “keep pushing the envelope.” I heard those words loud and clear, and they were all I needed to do just that.
One of the major financial problems at Kodak Gallery was supplier engagement, specifically, supplier engagement without oversight by procurement or legal. Several departments were guilty of this practice; however, our marketing department created the greatest financial impact and potential risk. Not only were we forking over massive amounts of unnecessary funds because costs were not negotiated, but we were also entering into agreements that were clearly slanted in favor of the supplier.
Let’s make it clear: I’m not suggesting that a marketing team should not take lead in the decision of what firm or ad agency they should partner with. After all, they are the subject matter experts, just as your IT department or human resources department would have that same right. However, when they engage a partner and they commence work with no cost negotiations, legal review or a formal agreement, that kind of exposure is where you can, and usually do, lose big time.
This practice seemed to be the norm at Kodak and the overused justification was that it was necessary to move quickly to stay on schedule for new product launches, beat deadlines, etc. More often than not, when challenged by the procurement or legal team, the marketing department was able to gain the support of the highest level of the organization when needed, to move forward. This only reinforced the bad behavior.
I strongly encourage any organization that allows such practices to at least arm their marketing department with basic training. I am an advocate of the Karrass seminars, which are actually designed for procurement professionals who engage in negotiations; however, as some organizations openly allow non- procurement professionals to engage with suppliers in this capacity, it may prove to be a worthwhile investment. If nothing else, it should certainly make clear to them that there is much more to supplier engagement than simply asking how much something costs and asking the procurement department to issue a purchase order.
I also recommend two books by Dr. Chester L. Karrass, creator of the Effective Negotiating Seminars: In Business As In Life – You Don’t Get What You Deserve, You Get What You Negotiate and Negotiating Effectively Within Your Own Organization.