This is the time of year for trend lists and predictions. Usually they are mostly wrong or well, predictable. There are some that are worth paying attention to however. One is the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals’ Top Outsourcing Trends for 2012. For instance, IAOP says we should watch out for more M&As and consolidation […]
From the Blog
Santa Claus: The Ultimate Vested Outsourcer!
UPS loves logistics. And at this time of the year their jingle (sung to the tune of “That’s Amore!”) is really apt — UPSers really have to love their job! They work extended hours seven days a week to make it happen. Warehouses add seasonal workers. Stores open early and close late. Moms are frazzled […]
Managing Transformation Through Vested Outsourcing
You hear a lot about transformation these days – what it is, how to do it and why it is needed to keep ahead in a dynamic business world. An article by strategic transformation consultants Marcia Daszko and Sheila Sheinberg looks deeply into the critical need to really understand transformation and what it entails. The […]
Pat Summitt: It’s Always About The People!
In business and outsourcing the best plan will always fail without the right people that have the ability to implement the plan and see it through. I think about this when I think about Pat Summitt, the legendary coach of the University of Tennessee’s Lady Vols basketball team. You probably know of my connection to […]
Steve Jobs, Wisdom and Outsourcing
It’s safe to say that the late Steve Jobs revolutionized computing along with the business of making, selling and shipping computers. Jobs was the mastermind behind revolutionary technology products just as the technology age we are currently living in got its start. It is almost like the old chicken and egg question because it’s difficult […]
Balancing the Outsource Contract Scales
The old adage that the more things change the more they stay the same probably should be revised when it comes to contract terms: the more things stay the same the worse they get. Tim Cummins, CEO of the International Association for Contract & Commercial Management (IACCM), expressed that thought in a recent Commitment Matters […]
Honesty, Arrogance, Trust and Coldplay
Listening to Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida” (song and lyrics here) brings together a number of thoughts about how we deal with ourselves and each other, both in our personal and business relationships. Specifically, I’m thinking about the need for cooperation, self-knowledge and the absolute necessity for honesty. It’s a great song with a great beat […]
A Nobel Laureate Who Says Globalization Needs Fixing
For the most part the economics of outsourcing series has examined the big thinkers in economics who have influenced the development of modern outsourcing. Today I’ll put the focus on Joseph E. Stiglitz, whose work has the power to influence how companies think about globalization. Joseph E. Stiglitz, a professor at Columbia University, received the […]
The Psychology of Outsourcing, Part 10: Daniel Kahneman – Bridging Economics and Psychology
I’ll close this 10-part series with a bang: a Nobel Laureate in economics who also happens to be a psychologist, Daniel Kahneman. Kahneman, a professor emeritus of Psychology at Princeton University, questioned the assumption of rationality behind the decision-making process and the “cognitive traps” that make it virtually impossible to think clearly about happiness and […]
The Psychology of Outsourcing, Part 9: Daniel Gilbert, Perception and Bias
Business relationships obviously are based on economic assumptions and expectations, but they are also based on the human perceptions and biases we bring to the table. And that’s where we can go wrong. Daniel Gilbert, a Harvard professor of psychology, is a social psychologist who focuses on the nature of perception, belief, forecasting and cognitive biases […]
