Afternoon Coffee: Barry Padgett Appointed as New SAP Ariba President, Whole Foods Places New Limitations on Suppliers

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SAP announced twoleadership changesThursday, with Alex Atzberger moving to president of SAP Hybris and Barry Padgett taking over the helm at SAP Ariba, according to a press release. SAP Hybris solutions “comprise the omnichannel customer engagement and commerce business at SAP” and include offerings for commerce, marketing, sales, service and revenue. Padgett, who joined SAP through the acquisition of Concur, will focus on the oversight of SAP’s business network strategy as Ariba’s new president.

“Positioning these proven leaders, both with deep customer empathy and a business vision rooted in a beautiful customer experience, will have a tremendous, positive impact for customers worldwide,” said Robert Enslin, member of the Executive Board of SAP SE and president of Cloud Business Group, SAP. “The business acumen and expertise both Alex and Barry bring to their respective roles, coupled with the engineering innovation agendas already underway, will greatly advance SAP’s leadership pursuits in the areas of procurement, customer engagement and commerce.”

Amazon’s Whole Foods

Whole Foods laid out in an email to suppliersnew limitationson products are sold in its stores that ask suppliers to help pay for the changes, the Washington Post reports. The changes focus on cost reductions and the centralization of operations, including a mandate that suppliers work exclusively with retail strategy firm Daymon to schedule in-store tastings, check inventory on shelves and create displays on their behalf.

German Industry

German industrial outputrose 3.4% in November, the biggest increase in eight years for the EU’s manufacturing powerhouse, according to Reuters. The country’s trade surplus widened on news of surging exports, which rose 4.1% on the month.

Small Business Confidence

And finally, an economic update for the US: The Small Business Optimism Indexhit a record highat the end of 2017, coming in at 104.9 in December, Business Insider reports. The optimism indicates that business owners are feeling highly confident about the economy going into 2018.