If necessity is the mother of invention, transformation may well be the big daddy of re-invention. That’s perhaps what Dell and GENCO thought as they held a Global Outlet Partnership Summit in Fort Worth, TX in 2011. The purpose of the summit was to restructure and align their outsourcing agreement to move from a traditional […]
collaboration
I’m Finished with Final
I’m giggling a little as I write this. I just signed off on one of the latest articles my team and I are writing. Its title now files under “When you Build Fatal Flaws into a Contract, Don’t Be Surprised If Your Contract is Fatally Flawed FINALv4.doc.” It’s the “FINALv4” part that I find funny. […]
Thinking Through the Negotiation Game
In last week’s Halloween post I wrote about the negotiation I had with my son about his costume. It made me think about some of the downright scary negotiation tactics companies use to help them get a better deal. I did a little researching and ran across Chester L. Karrass’ website, which has a negotiations […]
Halloween and the Scary Art of Negotiation
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.” […]
Talking Logistics — October 2013
Getting to We: A Conversation with Kate Vitasek and Jeanette Nyden by Talking Logistics Ready to “walk the talk” on creating highly collaborative business relationships? In this episode, Kate Vitasek and Jeanette Nyden discuss the key points from their recently published book, Getting to We, which “flips conventional negotiation on its head and shifts the perspective to […]
Outsource Magazine — October 2013
Stewart and Plotkin, the Prisoner’s Dilemma and Generous Strategies Column by Kate Vitasek published Oct. 16 in Outsource Magazine online. I’ve been a game theory fan for many years, particularly as it relates to showing that cooperative behavior indeed creates true “win-win” situations. So I was excited to read a work of University of Pennsylvania […]
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 […]
Outsource Magazine — October 2013
Getting to We: Time for a New Negotiating Paradigm Column/blog by Kate Vitasek, Jeanette Nyden and David Frydlinger If your recent experiences with new or renewal contract negotiations are something akin to visiting the dentist for a root canal, we’d like to introduce you to a much better – and pain-free! – way to go […]
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 […]
