At some point we all face an issue or situation that’s commonly called “the elephant in the room”: an obvious truth that is either being ignored or not addressed. The expression arises frequently in business situations where there is a problem or risk that no one wants to talk about. I teach that this is […]
Kate Vitasek
Avoid Chaos — Don’t Cherry-pick the Rules!
Maybe you saw the “Doberhuahau” Audi car commercial during the Super Bowl. If you are like me – you laughed at it and shared the YouTube link to with those who missed it. But sometimes the more you look at the things, the more it helps you learn. On the surface, the commercial is quite […]
Thank Your Partners Today!
On Valentine’s Day, we celebrate our most precious partnerships and the people, especially that special someone, that make life complete. I’m also thinking about the spirit that this day can—and should—bring to our business relationships. I’m not talking about love necessarily, although loving your work makes your business relationships a whole lot easier to deal […]
Vested: Growing and Knocking Down Obstacles
Like most, I am always eager to hear what Gartner analysts have to say about business, outsourcing and logistics. Dan Gilmore, editor of Supply Chain Digest, recently wrote about Gartner’s latest global supply chain predictions in his First Thoughts column. I was keen to learn that Vested actually made the list of predictions! How cool! […]
Outsource Magazine — February 2014
Kahneman, Tversky and cognitive biases Kate Vitasek’s colun/blog for Outsource Magazine (online), published 6 Feb 2014. Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman, professor emeritus of Psychology at Princeton University, famed for his psychological research into economic science and behavioral economics, laid the foundation for the field of research known as cognitive biases… Here’s the link: http://outsourcemagazine.co.uk/kahneman-tversky-and-cognitive-biases/
Seattle Seahawks: The Power of Alignment and Collaboration!
Of course I am a Peyton Manning fan. Is there a person at the University of Tennessee who is not? (For those not familiar with football – Peyton is a UT grad.) So while I am fan of the man and his accomplishments as a football legend – I have to say the Seattle Seahawks’ […]
Area Development Online — January 2014
One Size Fits All: “Vested” for Large and Small Companies Article published on January 28, 2014 by Kate Vitasek and Scott R. Schroeder (Owner/CEO, RelianceCM) Companies of all sizes are finding that negotiating and nurturing relationships with suppliers can provide a sustainable competitive advantage. Learn how the “Vested” model is lifting one small, Oregon-based contract manufacturer’s […]
Open Innovation and Knowing Too Much
There’s a somewhat perverse side to innovation that Andy Zynga has touched upon in a Harvard Business Review blog post. Zynga, CEO of NineSigma International, put it this way: “It is a profound irony that the more you know about a particular industry, and the more experience you gain in it, the more difficult it […]
Teaming and Innovation at GM
Mary Barra took the reins as General Motor’s new CEO last week, bringing the “teaming gene” to one of the more hierarchical and siloed major U.S. corporations. GM has been on my mind since mid-2012, when Randy Mott was installed as the company’s new chief information officer, followed quickly by his decision to move some […]
Outsource Magazine — January 2014
Trumping Price-Only with Best Value Article by Kate Vitasek in the January 2 edition of Outsource Magazine. It is likely that no other subject gets as much attention when two companies are entering, or extending, their outsourcing business relationship as the effort to come up with a fair pricing structure. Money is money after all, […]
