Last time I talked about how Armstrong’s outsourcing of transportation functions to a 3PL in 2007 was probably the wrong decision at the time and one that was destined to fail mainly because it was based on non-vested premises. Eventually Armstrong brought back that function—something it historically was very competent at—in-house and then went on […]
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Outsourcing’s Wrong and Right (Part 1)
As with most everything else in life there’s a right and a wrong. It’s no different in outsourcing. Unfortunately the lines of demarcation can get a little blurry, as when doing what seems to be the right thing in the beginning fails miserably and then you win an award for it. Let me explain. […]
Umair Haque: Value Through Thick and Thin
The economist Umair Haque, who writes prolifically and provocatively on economic and business issues in his Edge Economy blog for the Harvard Business Review and in his own blog, Bubblegeneration, thinks that many companies just don’t get it when it comes to creating sustainable profitability and value. With the near collapse of the financial system […]
Endorsing the Vested Way to Outsourcing
If there is any further evidence needed to confirm Vested Outsourcing’s growing influence on our industry, look no further than the academic alliance that the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP) has formed with the University of Tennessee College of Business Administration to promote Vested Outsourcing. That’s right – a premier outsourcing, offshoring and shared […]
Vested Outsourcing: Only the Resilient Survive
Vested Outsourcing’s message of true collaboration and partnership to achieve desired outcomes and increase the pie for everyone works over the long term in good times and bad, maybe more so during the latter. We know that supply chains need to be flexible, agile, collaborative, transparent, fairly priced, efficient and sustainable – both financially and […]
Drilling Down on Collaboration
Collaboration, and the need to get serious about it at all levels of the supply chain, was a key word heard frequently in the meeting rooms and hallways at last week’s CSCMP conference in San Diego. For the second straight year I joined Dan Gilmore, the editor of Supply Chain Digest, as a “guest contributor” […]
“Outsourced” Gets Outsourcing So Wrong It’s Not Even Funny
NBC’s new sitcom “Outsourced” premiered Thursday night. It’s supposed to be a comedy about outsourcing, specifically about a U.S. company that outsources its call center operation to India. The problem is it gets outsourcing so wrong it’s not even funny. During the show’s 22 minutes – minus the eight minutes of advertising from the likes of […]
No-Dread Collaboration
Rob Preston, editor of InformationWeek, has an interesting take on “Why Some People ‘Dread’ Collaboration.” He points out that a primary reason people “dread” collaborating is due to the amount of time and energy it consumes and that they often feel pestered and pressured to use tools they think they can solve on their own. Now […]
Outsourcing’s Different Box
I read an excellent post this month from Peter Bregman on the Harvard Business Review blog site, “If You Want to Be Original, Start from a Different Box.” It’s an excellent twist on the old think-outside-the-box refrain. Bregman, CEO of the global management consulting firm Bregman Partners Inc., speaks, writes and consults on leadership. He […]
Is Outsourcing Really a Partnership?
Companies that are new to outsourcing, and even those highly experienced with it, like to say their relationship is a partnership. I suppose it’s good for public consumption and public relations to consider all of the businesses and people a company works with as partners, and maybe in some way they really believe they are […]
