--- title: State of Flux | John Newton, Head of Customer Education, State of Flux --- - - - - [Blog](https://www.stateofflux.co.uk/Ideas-Insights/Blog/) - [Contact Us](https://www.stateofflux.co.uk/Contact/) - [Login](https://www.stateofflux.co.uk/login) [![logo-1](https://blog.stateofflux.co.uk/hubfs/logo-1.png)](https://www.stateofflux.co.uk/) - [Consulting](https://stateofflux.co.uk/supplier-management) - [Supplier Management](https://stateofflux.co.uk/supplier-management) - [Managed Services](https://stateofflux.co.uk/managed-services) - [Voice of the Supplier](https://stateofflux.co.uk/vos) - [Value Proposition](https://stateofflux.co.uk/value-proposition) - [Segmenting Suppliers](https://stateofflux.co.uk/supplier-segmentation) - [Joint Business Plan](https://stateofflux.co.uk/joint-business-plan) - [Contract Lifecycle Management](https://stateofflux.co.uk/contract-management) - [Procurement](https://srm.stateofflux.co.uk/procurement) - [Sustainability Risks & Modern Slavery](https://stateofflux.co.uk/sustainability-and-esg) - [Benchmark](https://stateofflux.co.uk/srm-benchmark) - [AI Garage](https://stateofflux.co.uk/ai-garage) - [Technology](https://stateofflux.co.uk/technology) - [SupplierBase Demo](https://stateofflux.co.uk/technology) - [Prospective Suppliers Module](https://stateofflux.co.uk/technology) - [Contracts Module](https://stateofflux.co.uk/technology) - [Performance Module](https://stateofflux.co.uk/technology) - [Risk Module](https://stateofflux.co.uk/technology) - [Relationship Module](https://stateofflux.co.uk/technology) - [Innovation Module](https://stateofflux.co.uk/technology) - [ESG Module](https://stateofflux.co.uk/technology) - [Intelligence Module](https://stateofflux.co.uk/technology) - [Reporting Module](https://stateofflux.co.uk/technology) - [Training](https://stateofflux.co.uk/training) - [Supplier Management](https://stateofflux.co.uk/supplier-management-training) - [Category Management](https://stateofflux.co.uk/category-managament-training) - [Supply Chain Risk](https://stateofflux.co.uk/supplychain-risk-training) - [Strategic Sourcing](https://stateofflux.co.uk/strategic-sourcing-training) - [Account Management](https://stateofflux.co.uk/account-management-training) - [Procurement Behaviour](https://stateofflux.co.uk/procurement-management-training) - [Diversity & Inclusion](https://stateofflux.co.uk/diversity-inclusion-training) - [Negotiation](https://stateofflux.co.uk/negotiation-training) - [Rebate Management](https://stateofflux.co.uk/rebate-management) - [Capability Assessment](https://stateofflux.co.uk/capability-assessment) - [2025 Research](https://srm.stateofflux.co.uk/srmsurvey25) - [2025 Summits](https://srm.stateofflux.co.uk/summits2025) - [2025 Report](https://srm.stateofflux.co.uk/2025-report-showcase) - [Resources](https://stateofflux.co.uk/reports-publications) - [Reports and Publications](https://stateofflux.co.uk/reports-publications) - [Blog](https://stateofflux.co.uk/articles) - [Articles](https://stateofflux.co.uk/articles) - [Case Studies](https://stateofflux.co.uk/articles) - [Podcast: Power of 3](https://stateofflux.co.uk/podcasts) - [Events](https://stateofflux.co.uk/events) - [About us](https://stateofflux.co.uk/about) - [Leadership Team](https://stateofflux..co.uk/about#leadership) - [Our Partners](https://stateofflux.co.uk/partners) - [Awards](https://stateofflux.squarespace.com/about#awards) - [Careers](https://stateofflux.co.uk/careers) - [Home](https://www.stateofflux.co.uk/) - [Ideas and insights](https://www.stateofflux.co.uk/ideas-insights) - State of Flux #### [Fujitsu's Role in the UK Post Office Scandal and Implications for Procurement 23 Jan 2024 **Understanding the Risks **](https://blog.stateofflux.co.uk/blog/fujitsu-in-uk-office-scandal) [Stay connected on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/50338) Sign up to our Newsletter [Get the latest SRM Report](https://www.stateofflux.co.uk/ideas-insights/reports-and-publications/2017-global-srm-research-report-entrepreneurial-sr) ## John Newton, Head of Customer Education, State of Flux ### Recent Posts #### [29 Mar 2021 Understanding the C-level challenge to unlock the commercial value of Supplier Management *Procurement leaders should ensure their business case for supplier management goes beyond the financial benefits that can be achieved.*](https://blog.stateofflux.co.uk/blog/understanding-the-c-level-challenge-to-unlock-the-commercial-value-of-supplier-management) #### [14 Jan 2021 The soft skills that hold the key to commercial value Over the 12 years that State of Flux has been conducting research into supplier management best practices, the theme of ‘people and skills’ has continued to demonstrate that the behavioural side of SRM far outweighs technical skills when it comes to delivering real commercial value. Add to this that **our most recent 2020 research shows that just 17% of organisations have conducted an SRM capability assessment**, and we have real cause for concern. The result is that the majority of organisations have no evidence based view that their people are actually equipped with the behaviours that build collaborative supplier relationships.](https://blog.stateofflux.co.uk/blog/the-soft-skills-that-hold-the-key-to-commercial-value) #### [9 Dec 2019 Why does supplier innovation seem so difficult? **![Article_Innovation_Banner](https://blog.stateofflux.co.uk/hs-fs/hubfs/Article_Innovation_Banner.png?width=1000&name=Article_Innovation_Banner.png)** **There are a number of challenges that arise when we want to explore guided innovation as a source of value in a (hopefully strategic, but not always) supplier relationship. The challenges range from stimulating good ideas through to handling the ideas and keeping suppliers engaged. In this blog we’ll look at just one of the challenges we uncovered through performing our annual global research into SRM best practices – what do people actually mean when they use the term innovation?**](https://blog.stateofflux.co.uk/blog/why-does-supplier-innovation-seem-so-difficult) [1](https://blog.stateofflux.co.uk/blog/author/john-newton-head-of-customer-education-state-of-flux/page/1) ![State_of_Flux](https://blog.stateofflux.co.uk/hubfs/State_of_Flux_February2019%20Theme/Images/logo.png) London HQ phone: +44 (0)2078 420 600 Email: [enquiries@stateofflux.co.uk](mailto:enquiries@stateofflux.co.uk) © 2022 State of Flux - - - - [Site map](https://www.stateofflux.co.uk/information/site-map) - [Privacy policy](https://www.stateofflux.co.uk/information/privacy-policy) - [Terms and conditions](https://www.stateofflux.co.uk/information/terms-and-conditions)