Damian Scallon

Damian Scallon's picture
About: 

Damian Scallon is the Managing Director of the Inside-Outsourcing-Institute, the author of The Outsourcing Conundrum and Fieldguide to The Outsourcing Conundrum, as well as a columnist for Outsource Magazine. Damian pioneered the early inside-outsourcing services and has stayed committed to this field for the past forty years. HIs current focus stems from a belief that a competitive advantage is gained through strong partnerships.

From this author

Jul 25, 2016    1

(To read the first part of this article, click here.)

Almost a week had passed since my meeting with Jeanette and her team, and I was still reeling from the conversation. It was just so hard to comprehend how a large company can afford to alienate its supplier community. Just as I was about to hit replay on the entire situation, the phone rang.

“Good morning,” I said.

...

Jul 13, 2016    1

“We are nothing more than a bunch of pawns on this outsourcing checker board,” Jeanette said.

“I think you mean ‘chessboard’,” I said smiling at her.

“You know damn well what I mean, Dean. Hey, that rhymes,” Jeanette said, returning the smile.

“Sadly I do understand, and, from what you’ve described, I have to agree with you.”

“We have worked here for 13 years in a real partnership with the...

Jun 03, 2016    0

Another rainy trip up north, I thought to myself, turning on the windshield wipers. A recent phone call from Anne, the head of global purchasing, requesting my participation in reviewing some ideas to build stronger partnerships with their inside-outsourcing service providers (IOSPs), was the reason for the trip. Over my forty years as an IOSP, I’d become very cynical and prejudicial towards purchasing departments. As an IOSP to the auto industry, I’d witnessed countless...

Apr 28, 2016    0

After lunch, the group assembled back in the conference room. Most spent some time reading through the poster on the wall, looking for more clues to help them improve.

“Ready to get started,” I said, as the group grabbed their seats.

“On to people,” Tyler announced, with a tone indicating he could see the light at the end of the tunnel.

“Yes, on to the ‘People’ column in the mosaic. Just as we defined who your key customers are...

Apr 21, 2016    0

To read the first part of this article, click here.


Walking into the conference room the following week, I bumped into Jenny and Alex, two regional managers who worked for Tyler.

“Good morning.”

“Hi there, Dean,” Jenny said, smiling and walking over.

“Just looking over the big poster,” Alex...

Apr 12, 2016    1

As I finished up my call with Rick, the CEO of Walker Ideas, I couldn’t help but feel impressed with his new attitude towards service. Rick and his team recently turned some bad news they had received from their key customer into an opportunity to convey to that customer that Walker Ideas was truly an inside-outsourcing partner. Rick wanted to create a proactive environment where Walker Ideas sat one step ahead of the customer, anticipating its needs. He was feeling frustrated by his...

Mar 11, 2016    0

Every once in a while I come across a situation marked with incongruous and unexpected elements that, when summed up, can only be labelled as completely bizarre. One such situation started in the boardroom of Walker Ideas, a very successful inside-outsourcing service provider to the food industry. Walker operates at dozens of facilities dedicated to performing services that their customers strategically exited. As such, Walker is a key partner to their customers, or so they allow themselves...

Feb 02, 2016    3

Pulling into the snowy parking lot and contemplating today’s meeting, my mind wandered to a line from Michael Margolis, the CEO of Get Storied, “If you want to understand the culture, listen to the stories; if you want to change the culture, change the stories.” Carl, the site manager of Excel, the inside-outsourcing service provider at this motorcycle plant, had called a few weeks back and enticed me to visit by stating, “I have a great story for you.”

...