VESTED MODEL AIMS TO SUPERCHARGE BUYER-SUPPLIER INNOVATION Interview with Kate Vitasek published on 19 November 2015. Coupa is a “company of talkers, passionate about sharing tips, tricks and advice for improving finance and procurement and saving companies of all sizes time and money. But we’re not the only people with opinions and ideas. We’d love […]
Vested
The Lessons of the V-Formation
Recent research described in USA Today that relates how and why certain birds fly in a perfect V formation is fascinating. But it is also telling in terms of how migrating birds work together to reach their goal with the lowest amount of energy. Scientists did the first extreme close-up of GPS-equipped northern bald ibises flying in a V formation to […]
Forbes – 12 November 2015
Contract Terms Remain Stuck On Old-School Negotiating Tactics Article by Kate Vitasek published by Forbes on 12 November 2015. Add to the list of things that never seem to change are the go-to terms that contract negotiators always put first… Here’s the link: http://www.forbes.com/sites/katevitasek/2015/11/12/contract-terms-remain-stuck-on-old-school-negotiating-tactics/
What’s Your Costume, er, Sourcing Business Model for Halloween?
Usually I write about Halloween and the scary art of negotiation but this year in honor of the imminent release of the sixth Vested book, Strategic Sourcing in the New Economy, (by Bonnie Keith, myself, Karl Manrodt, and Jeanne Kling), I thought I’d take a slightly different tack on the holiday. My question is simple. If you are searching for real value […]
For Innovation: Ask the Person
Innovation doesn’t have to be a mystery featuring secret words, cryptic corporate alchemy and magical thinking. It can be as simple as ATP: ‘ask the person’ doing the work. Communication is vital in every aspect of our personal and business lives, for collaboration, alignment and creating value—so why not when it comes to innovation? A […]
LinkedIn Pulse — September 2015
The Totally Avoidable St. Croix Bridge Fiasco LinkedIn Pulse article by Jeanne Kling published 24 September 2015. Here’s the link: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/totally-avoidable-st-croix-bridge-fiasco-jeanne-kling?trk=prof-post
Forbes — 29 September 2015
Leave Money On The Table When Negotiating Strategic Deals Article by Kate Vitasek published in Forbes on 29 September 2015. Business professionals around the world swear by a common strategy: never leave money on the table. Leaving money on the table is seen as a sign of weakness. If you leave money on the table, the […]
When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It
I’d like to take a moment to celebrate the wit, and wisdom, of baseball great and cultural icon Yogi Berra, who died on Tuesday at the age of 90. Berra had a unique perspective on life that some might think of as just a list of rambling, funny malapropisms. There was an element of the […]
APQC Knowledge Base — Sept. 2015
Consider the Best Strategic Sourcing Model for Your Business Article by Kate Vitasek publish in APQC’s Knowledge Base on 17 September 2015. Research by the University of Tennessee has found that many, if not most, of the world’s most-used sourcing strategies are incomplete for modern procurement challenges. The way we think about procurement has its […]
Forbes — September 2015
Beyond A Fair Price: Proven Approaches To Buy Value Article by Kate Vitasek published 14 Sept. 2015 on the Forbes Leadership site. Many buyers and suppliers are easily frustrated when it comes time to negotiate a fair contract price that preserves and increases value. In fact, it is paradoxical. On one hand the parties discuss […]
