The true test of collaboration occurs when you really have to collaborate, say during a crisis or when the powers that be ask you to do more or to do something radically different. In short collaboration is a nice word but it’s only truly effective and real when what you’re collaborating on is difficult, uncomfortable […]
vested outsourcing
Spend Outsourcing Time on Outcomes, Not SLAs
If you’ve been involved with outsourcing long enough, and if you’ve paid attention to the basic message of Vested Outsourcing, then then you probably know that service level agreements—SLAs—are somewhat lacking when it comes to forging collaborative and transformative relationships. That’s mainly because task-oriented SLAs generally are too one-sided in favor of the company outsourcing. […]
Sourcing Interests Group, May 2011
Sourcing Interests Group’s CEO Dawn Evans and Tim Minahan, Chief Marketing Officer of Ariba, discuss the future of outsourcing. Watch the video here.
University of Tennessee/Vested Recognized for Academic Advancement
Recognition for groundbreaking work from the peers in our industry, namely from the Supply Chain Council this week, is both a wonderful honor and also great challenge. SCC announced the winners of the 2011 North American Supply Chain Excellence Awards at the annual Supply Chain World conference in Baltimore. There are three award categories, operational […]
Tap into the Power of And By Avoiding Either/Or
In outsourcing and in the business world the mind-set regarding ideas and innovation is often too full of ‘buts’ and ‘either/ors.’ Vested Outsourcing’s collaborative approach to driving supplier innovation and flexibility depends on inclusiveness and eliminating the either/or. Filippo Passerini, P&G‘s CIO and president of Global Business Services, is a big proponent of avoiding the […]
Scrap the Purchase Order Mentality
Don’t mistake a transaction, even a friendly and efficient transaction, as true collaboration. If someone arranges to purchase widgets from a widget-maker that’s the essence of the make-buy decision but it’s not the crowning achievement of a real partnership. Or as Ben Gomes-Casseres puts it, “a partnership is not a purchase order.” Writing this week […]
Vested Outsourcing Makes the Innovative Impulse Real
We all talk about the need for innovation to energize, grow and add continuous value to outsourcing relationships. Innovation is easier said than done however, and a recent article by Stephanie Overby in CIO magazine underscores this. A survey of European CIOs found that 67 percent of IT leaders rely on outsource providers to turn […]
The Lion Listens and Empowers Before He Roars
Something called the “modern day fable” of the Ant and the Lion is making the rounds of various inboxes—it’s amusing and as most fables go, timely, or shall I say timeless? It presents some serious food for thought about the way we and our organizations work, collaborate and grow over time. Here’s a link to […]
Costing Out the Cost of the Contract
I’ve talked recently about the need for outsource contracting in a transparent and flexible Vested environment, but what about the actual cost of establishing a business contract? While there is obviously no standard cost template for contract negotiation services—contracts can vary from the exceedingly short and simple to the immensely long and complex and you […]
Choose Transparency for the Win-Win
Transparency is another of the oft-used buzzwords that is more spoken about and wished-for than actually implemented. I’ve always been a fan of Seth Godin, but I was struck by this latest post from Seth Godin that talks about a sort anti-transparency movement which – in my opinion – is not healthy. The first example […]
