It’s Halloween. Time for kids to dress up and go trick or treating. Last year Austin (then age 7) went as an artist. This year he insisted he wanted to be an artist again. I was trying to negotiate with him to “be” something more fun (or scary) this year and to “change things up.” […]
From the Blog
Catching Up on Ketchup
Because I’m so familiar the McDonald’s “System” and its “three-legged stool” philosophy, I was somewhat taken aback by a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette news report that McDonald’s is dropping Heinz ketchup from its menu—after more than 40 years. The article implies that the breakup came about at least in part because Heinz recently hired Bernardo Hees as […]
Googling It and Outsourcing
I just got back from the Sourcing Interests Group fall summit in Ft. Worth and as usual was thoroughly impressed with the fantastic job they do at these events. I had the opportunity to chat with David Natoff, Head of Procure to Pay for Google, after his insightful presentation on the “search for outsourcing excellence […]
Yoga Gear Needs Alignment Too
Getting your supplier relationships right is more and more a question of getting and then nurturing the relationship’s alignment. Supplier relationships are not only vital to the financial health of your company, but can also be a key driver to overall brand health. These thoughts occurred to me as I listened to a short Wall […]
Innovate Your Innovation Strategy (Part II)
Last time, I talked about the need for collaborative innovation in strategic relationships that emerges from both inside and outside companies. At Procter & Gamble innovation has always been a prime imperative. That focus intensified in 2000, when A.G. Lafley took the helm as P&G’s CEO. He set out to reinvent the company’s innovation business […]
Innovate Your Innovation Strategy (Part I)
I think of innovation as a big potluck gathering: you know, where everyone brings their favorite—and best—dish. The more scrumptious and imaginative the dishes that are brought to the table, the better and more successful the potluck! It’s the same with innovation. The best and most durable innovations come when everyone attends the party, bringing […]
General Mills, Suppliers, Innovation Strategy and the Power of We
Some interesting and encouraging insights regarding the company-supplier interface came out of the recent General Mills 2013 Supplier Summit where Tim Coats, vice president of Worldwide Sourcing for General Mills, kicked off the spring event by sharing his belief in “The Power of We” with a theme of Connect, Create, Elevate! Maerenn Jepsen, an external […]
Is Your Goal Hairy and Audacious?
Do you have a BHAG? Or several? If you or your company don’t have a “big hairy audacious goal” perhaps it is time to find one and get to work on it. Or maybe you simply need to prioritize from that long wish list of corporate goals and recognize one or two as your BHAG. […]
Getting the Deal by Getting to We
When we talk about the doing the deal, the point is to get the deal done, right? To get to yes in the most advantageous way possible for your company—the deal that best serves your specific interest, at the lowest possible cost. And then you move on to the next deal, right? Wrong! That mindset […]
Nobel Economist Ronald Coase, Giant of TCE, Dies at 102
Nobel laureate Ronald Coase, a giant of modern economic thought and whose ideas about transaction costs and the nature of companies are a foundation of Vested principles, died this week in Chicago. He was 102. In “The Nature of the Firm,” which was developed and written while he was still an undergraduate and published in 1937, Professor […]
