Five Rules to Strategic Outsourcing Cover story by Kate Vitasek in Reverse Logistics Magazine, Edition 98 All too often companies that outsource experience what University of Tennessee researchers call the Watermelon scorecard: SLAs (service level agreements) are green on the surface, but often neither the buying company nor the service provider are happy with the […]
Psychology of Outsourcing
Controlling our Decisions
Most of us probably think we are honest and in control of our own decisions—but not so fast!—Dan Ariely, Duke University professor of psychology and behavioral economics, offers another and quite provocative view. I’ve been a long-time fan of Ariely since reading his book Predictably Irrational. And his talks on TED have been viewed about three […]
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 […]
Psychology of Outsourcing, Part 8: Thomas D. Gilovich, Decisions and Behavioral Economics
Many of the mistakes we make when outsourcing stem from a failure to recognize and account for the psychology that surrounds decision-making. Then businesses compound the problem by using poor judgment when reacting to the results of those decisions. Psychologist Thomas D. Gilovich (born 1954) is a professor of psychology at Cornell University who has researched […]
Psychology of Outsourcing, Part 7: Abraham Maslow and the Hierarchy of Needs
Abraham Maslow (1908-1970), a founding father of humanistic psychology, has more to do with outsourcing than you might think. He is famous for his breakthrough work on the “hierarchy of needs,” featured in his book: Toward a Psychology of Being. His premise was simple, yet profound: human beings are motivated by unsatisfied needs, and certain lower needs must be satisfied […]
The Psychology of Outsourcing, Part 5: B.F. Skinner and Behavior, Incentives, Consequences
While B.F Skinner’s groundbreaking work on “radical behaviorism” is not quite the same as behavioral economics, they run in same crowd: mainly the conditioning, incentivizing and tracking of certain actions. Skinner, often a controversial and polarizing figure, developed a philosophy of science he called radical behaviorism, and founded his own school of experimental research psychology—the […]
The Psychology of Outsourcing, Part 6: Wayne Dyer and the Power of Intention
Wayne Dyer, widely known for his new-agey and somewhat metaphysical teachings on self-development, is also known as the “father of motivation.” In a very real sense this highly aphoristic spiritual guru and author of more than 30 books has a lot to say about the business and outsourcing mindset. Much of what Dyer says boils […]
The Psychology of Outsourcing, Part 4: Albert Mehrabian and Comminication
Sometimes I get the feeling that this series connecting the work of the giants in psychology with Vested Outsourcing is a little “out there.” But the more I dig into the thought leadership in this space, the more I am convinced there is a tremendous amount of insights that outsourcing professionals can apply to helping […]
The Psychology of Outsourcing, Part 3 Carl Rogers and the Art of Achieving Full Potential
Carl Rogers was a giant in the field of psychology, perhaps the most influential psychologist in American history, with groundbreaking contributions in education, counseling, psychotherapy, peace and conflict resolution. A founder of “humanistic psychology,” his research and experiential work focused on demonstrating the psychological conditions for allowing “self-actualization” through open communication and empowering individuals to […]
