December 2008 - By almost any metric, 2009 is expected to be a challenging year for corporations, travel procurement professionals and suppliers. But as veterans of prior downturns and the unprecedented turmoil post-9/11 are well aware, challenging times are often those in which corporations have most advanced their travel management strategies, policies and technologies.
Mandates that would never fly in certain cultures during boom years are often readily embraced as a means to ensure that travel dollars are most effectively spent. Policies that in 2000 would have resulted in mass employee exodus today are accepted with minor grumbling. To help prepare managers for some of the creative problem-solving they may soon face, we present some offbeat approaches to problems solved at other organizations and a glimpse into what works at companies deemed "the best" places to work.
In our Cover Story, we take a peek inside the travel policies of a few of the companies that
Fortune magazine named 2008's "100 Best Companies to Work For."
Is there any correlation between the recognition and travel policy? You decide.
In a Case Study on the status of the
U.S. government's deployment of e-gov travel, we give you the latest scorecards on the technology adoption, savings and deployment of this multimillion-dollar Bush administration project, and explain how the feds define "success."
In Profile, we detail the strategy that has helped
AstraZeneca deliver travel policy compliance, data and savings to its $63 million travel program. Meanwhile, in the Meetings section, we explain how
Procter & Gamble incorporated telepresence options into its meeting program and how
Bank of America used Six Sigma to gain procurement compliance from a maverick office.
Meetings also is the focus of this issue's Leading Practices, which highlights the
spending synergies possible by combining meetings and transient travel volume.
In other departments, you'll read about the "squawking" that may be needed to get buyers, suppliers, distribution executives and others together to hammer out
new distribution models.
Finally, in Perspective,
United Airlines' Jeff Foland urges buyers to broaden their definitions of value beyond airline network fit and discounts to create "real value" from supplier relationships.
How ever you create value in the face of challenges this year and next, we welcome your observations and feedback on how we can best serve your needs. Happy New Year!
