After more than a year of stalling, decelerating or detouring business travel and meetings in the downturn, buyers now must learn how to accelerate in an upturn, how- ever modest it is expected to be. Forget about a quick return to the fast-pace growth years of the last decade. Slow is now "in," and a focus on cost-control isn’t likely to subside, according to Cover Story.
Facing a long drive or perhaps a few construction-related snarls on the road to recovery, procurement executives might want to refuel and restock the toolkit. Agility, change-management skills and risk-management expertise should be the focus, and toss in new metrics and models, strategies and technologies to explore.
Social networking and a mobile strategy for travel management also might be needed, as explained, respectively, in Leading Practicesand Technology. A comprehensive toolkit to deploy a strategic meetings management program within corporations is expected this August from the National Business Travel Association's Groups and Meetings Committee as detailed in Meetings Perspective.
Former Continental Airlines CEO Larry Kellner advocates that buyers also need to be "bold" in their thinking and relationships with airlines post-downturn in his Perspective.
In Supply Chain, read about ways that travel procurement can counter revenue management tactics that some expect to emerge as soon as the hotel market strengthens.
Oracle's journey toward more eco-friendly events is detailed in a Case Study. Officials have documented the "unprecedented" progress last year and openly acknowledge the potholes, detours and roadblocks that remain not only for Oracle, but for the meetings industry to resolve.
In a sort of follow-up to our March 2009 Cover Story about the bailout-related restrictions on meetings and incentives and impact of the scrutiny on a broad array of corporations, we finally hear a chief executive justify the return on investment and rationale for an annual incentive meeting. Texas Roadhouse CEO G.J. Harthas become somewhat of a poster boy for the value of meetings, but he makes a compelling case for how incentives help his company thrive.