Future of Sourcing - Relationship Management http://futureofsourcing.com/tags/relationship-management en John W. Henke Jr. and Chun Zhang: Increasing Supplier Trust and Innovation http://futureofsourcing.com/john-w-henke-jr-and-chun-zhang-increasing-supplier-trust-and-innovation <div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/John%20W.%20Henke%20Jr.%20and%20Chun%20Zhang%3A%20Increasing%20Supplier%20Trust%20and%20Innovation.png"><a href="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/John%20W.%20Henke%20Jr.%20and%20Chun%20Zhang%3A%20Increasing%20Supplier%20Trust%20and%20Innovation.png" title="John W. Henke Jr. and Chun Zhang: Increasing Supplier Trust and Innovation" class="colorbox" rel="gallery-node-1108-XXZA0VEUU70"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/styles/juicebox_medium/public/articles/John%20W.%20Henke%20Jr.%20and%20Chun%20Zhang%3A%20Increasing%20Supplier%20Trust%20and%20Innovation.png?itok=Kx_k4AnV" width="624" height="325" alt="John W. Henke Jr. and Chun Zhang: Increasing Supplier Trust and Innovation" title="" /></a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-intro field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"> <h1>Increasing Supplier Trust and Innovation</h1> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-related-news field-type-entityreference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Related news:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/libby-weber-the-importance-of-framing-your-contracts">Libby Weber: The Importance of Framing Your Contracts</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p>The tricky question that most if not all companies face on a constant basis is how to get their suppliers fully engaged and committed to &ndash; and even be instrumental in driving &ndash; innovation.</p> <p>While the importance of innovation is a given that dates back more than 50 years to the teachings of Peter Drucker in&nbsp;<em>The Practice of Management</em>&nbsp;(1954), it has only been fairly recently that academics and organizations have been studying how to make innovation go from idea to reality.</p> <p>John W. Henke Jr. and Chun Zhang are two such academics.</p> <p>Over a six-year period, Henke, a professor of Marketing in the School of Business Administration at Oakland University (Rochester, MI), and Zhang, an assistant professor at the University of Vermont, analyzed the working relationships between 37 companies and their suppliers in five manufacturing and service industries. Their goal was to study supplier innovation behaviour and to learn how companies can encourage suppliers increasingly to invest in innovative technologies, and to share those technologies. This research, which was presented in a paper, &quot;Increasing Supplier-Driven Innovation,&quot; for the MIT Sloan Management Review, focused on the North American automotive industry.</p> <p>The basic question they addressed was this: How can a customer effectively collaborate with a supplier more, while competing with it less in order to increase the supplier&rsquo;s innovation related activities. And related to that question: Even if there are ways that suppliers might transfer innovation to their customers, how does one get them to do so?</p> <p>Well, if you have followed my articles for any length of time you know what my next words will be: Trust and forging highly collaborative relationships. &ldquo;Customer activities that are collaborative tend to build trust and subsequently foster supplier innovation transfer,&rdquo; Henke and Zhang wrote.</p> <p>But the problem that can and often does emerge is that there is a &ldquo;competitive side&rdquo; to collaboration, and &ldquo;competitive activities in every customer/supplier relationship that result in distrust, which negatively affects such transfers.&rdquo;</p> <p>Take for example a case where a company and its supplier work together to provide a high-quality product &ndash;- which strengthens mutual trust &ndash;- only to see that trust come under stress when the company asks the supplier for price reductions.</p> <p>&ldquo;It is this relational stress and its accompanying distrust that cause suppliers to limit the extent to which they will transfer innovations to the customer.&rdquo;</p> <p>So how to reduce or eliminate this &ldquo;relational stress&rdquo; and make the leap to high collaboration, trust and innovation? Henke and Zhang identified three areas of collaborative activities, which they call the &ldquo;Increasing Supplier Innovation Model&rdquo;, that a company can take to mitigate supplier stress and increase supplier innovation activities:</p> <ul style="list-style-type:square;"> <li>Involve suppliers in the company&rsquo;s processes, especially product development</li> <li>Demonstrate openness and share information in a timely manner</li> <li>Work with suppliers to help them improve their competitiveness in both cost and quality</li> </ul> <p>In other words, don&rsquo;t insist on innovation and then browbeat the supplier on costs!</p> <p>&ldquo;Trust in the relationship is especially important to the supplier, and that trust must originate with the customer,&rdquo; say Henke and Zhang. That&rsquo;s because it is the supplier that is at the greatest risk, especially in taking the initial steps of sharing propriety information, for example.</p> <p>It works both ways, of course: the company also has to trust the supplier. If the company gains access to proprietary knowledge of one of its competitors through a mutual supplier it will probably be difficult to trust that supplier with its own proprietary information.</p> <p>I believe Henke and Zhang take a very Vested stance by stressing the importance of win-win collaboration and maximizing alignment with innovative suppliers.</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/automotive" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Automotive</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/collaboration" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Collaboration</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/increasing-supplier-innovation-model" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Increasing Supplier Innovation Model</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/innovation" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Innovation</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/relationship-management" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Relationship Management</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-addthis field-type-addthis field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style " addthis:title="John W. Henke Jr. and Chun Zhang: Increasing Supplier Trust and Innovation - Future of Sourcing" addthis:url="http://futureofsourcing.com/john-w-henke-jr-and-chun-zhang-increasing-supplier-trust-and-innovation"><a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_linkedin"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_facebook"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_twitter"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_googleplus"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_pinterest_share"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_reddit"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_email"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_print"></a> </div> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-region field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Region:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/regions/global" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Global</a></div></div></div> Mon, 11 Oct 2021 02:00:00 +0000 Kate Vitasek 1108 at http://futureofsourcing.com http://futureofsourcing.com/john-w-henke-jr-and-chun-zhang-increasing-supplier-trust-and-innovation#comments Innovations in Digitization: Google http://futureofsourcing.com/innovations-in-digitization-google <div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/FOS%20Header%20Image_Innovations%20in%20Digitization_2.png"><a href="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/FOS%20Header%20Image_Innovations%20in%20Digitization_2.png" title="Innovations in Digitization: Google" class="colorbox" rel="gallery-node-1612-XXZA0VEUU70"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/styles/juicebox_medium/public/articles/FOS%20Header%20Image_Innovations%20in%20Digitization_2.png?itok=C7eLJB_2" width="624" height="325" alt="" title="" /></a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-intro field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"> <p>This October, the&nbsp;<a href="https://futureofsourcingawards.com/?__hstc=215510152.344406f4865c40604cf6029be7e958e0.1543422516683.1570825790542.1570835886974.660&amp;__hssc=215510152.1.1570835886974&amp;__hsfp=847670889" target="_blank">Future of Sourcing Awards</a>&nbsp;will celebrate organizations and individuals that have shown innovation, leadership and transformation in categories that are critical to the sourcing industry. Interviews with the finalists provide helpful insight about their projects, the problem they sought to solve and the impact to their organizations. Read how Google developed a scalable Strategic Sourcing information system for managing projects, suppliers, and most importantly to evolve stakeholder relationships.</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <div> <h3><em>Can you outline why your team embarked on this project and the problem that needed to be solved?</em></h3> </div> <div>Our S2S (short for Sourcing to Stakeholder) platform was developed to be a scalable Strategic Sourcing information system for managing projects, suppliers, and most importantly to evolve our stakeholder relationships. Google&rsquo;s mission is to organize the world&rsquo;s information and make it universally accessible and useful. To do this, innovation, speed, collaboration and data are critical factors for our internal stakeholders. Within the Strategic Sourcing organization, we&rsquo;re constantly balancing these factors while creating value with our stakeholders. Navigating a non-mandated, highly complex, and super-scaled environment comes with many challenges! That&rsquo;s why we embarked on an initiative to organize Strategic Sourcing information, to make it accessible and useful, and to drive best in class stakeholder management. &nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;&nbsp;</div> <div> <h3><em>How were things done originally and what was the inspiration to innovate the process?</em></h3> </div> <div>Originally, the Strategic Sourcing Team would document each project through Google sites and documents, which is a powerful tool to retain RFPs, pitches, scorecards and contracts. Google sites are a one stop shop, easy to navigate and designed so that a newcomer to the project can understand the supplier selection process. Important information regarding projects and suppliers was available, but not centrally. Additionally, we recognized a major gap in valuable stakeholder information - Google&rsquo;s business can change quickly and we didn&rsquo;t have a great repository for our stakeholder information to support business continuity. We recognized a need for integration into one centralized system with an end to end view of strategic sourcing to stakeholder at scale.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;&nbsp;</div> <div> <h3><em>What KPIs did you use to measure success for this project? (For example: performance, customer satisfaction, revenue, sales or relevant financial gains?)</em></h3> </div> <div>S2S is used to manage our broader metrics across Strategic Sourcing, such as spend under management and rate reductions. Through the enhancements of bringing together project, supplier and stakeholder meta-data, we now look at deeper stakeholder engagement metrics, such as:&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <ul> <li>Stakeholder satisfaction surveys and scores</li> <li>Customer retention levels</li> <li>Rate of strategic contact</li> <li>Defined leads and action plans</li> <li>Potential stakeholders converted to stakeholders with executed projects</li> <li>Pipeline development and forecasting &nbsp;&nbsp;</li> </ul> <div> <h3><em>How do you plan to ensure that the new model remains relevant and adapts to the future needs of the market?</em></h3> </div> <div>There is a shorter term and longer-term element to how the team is ensuring relevance for S2S. In the short term, we&rsquo;ve implemented several rounds of user feedback and real time modifications/customization to make sure the tool is adapted to our needs. For example, S2S already updates relevant Strategic Sourcing managers if a stakeholder leaves Google or changes department or location. It also facilitates setting goals and managing delivery around relationship management objectives. Our long-term pipeline centers around further automation, focusing on areas can we automate in lower risk categories to enable more focus and time spent on our platinum stakeholders.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;&nbsp;</div> <div> <h3><em>What advice do you have for those who may want to implement this innovative approach in their own organizations?</em></h3> </div> <div>Two pieces of advice that the team has to offer:&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <ol> <li>Plan ahead to invest time in a change management strategy and roll out. &nbsp;The platform will only be as good as your level of adoption across the team. &nbsp;Ensure that it&rsquo;s customized to the appropriate level for your users and addresses what&rsquo;s important and impactful for them. Set adoption KPIs and check in regularly against those KPIs. &nbsp;</li> <li>Iterate and evolve the platform over time. It&rsquo;s been a multi-phased journey which continues to unfold as AI and machine learning present new opportunities to enhance the tool and features. &nbsp; &nbsp;</li> </ol> <div> <h3><em>With innovations in digitization occurring very quickly in our industry, how do you see this specific project further transforming in the future?</em></h3> </div> <div>Over time, the vision is to utilize machine learning and an AI model to deliver more value. Through these enhancements, the tool would drive personalized insights to each individual Strategic Sourcing manager and make meaningful suggestions based on usage. For example, it would identify a stakeholder that a Strategic Sourcing manager should meet with or provide a reminder to discuss the renewal of a contract that will be expiring. Emerging technologies will help deliver relevant insights to the fingertips of our Strategic Sourcing managers - a shift towards insights over real time dashboards. We&rsquo;re progressing in bringing semi-structured data points like email records, calendar invites, meeting notes, CSAT surveys and social media together into one system and matching it with supplier spend or stakeholder data, but this is only the beginning.</div> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/strategic-sourcing" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Strategic Sourcing</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/future-of-sourcing-awards" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Future of Sourcing Awards</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/stakeholder" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Stakeholder</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/relationship-management" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Relationship Management</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/collaboration" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Collaboration</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-addthis field-type-addthis field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style " addthis:title="Innovations in Digitization: Google - Future of Sourcing" addthis:url="http://futureofsourcing.com/innovations-in-digitization-google"><a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_linkedin"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_facebook"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_twitter"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_googleplus"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_pinterest_share"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_reddit"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_email"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_print"></a> </div> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-region field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Region:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/regions/global" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Global</a></div></div></div> Thu, 19 Sep 2019 21:57:08 +0000 Future of Sourcing Awards 1612 at http://futureofsourcing.com http://futureofsourcing.com/innovations-in-digitization-google#comments Women in Global Sourcing: Sydney Fellabaum http://futureofsourcing.com/women-in-global-sourcing-sydney-fellabaum <div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/WIGS_SydneyFellabaum.png"><a href="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/WIGS_SydneyFellabaum.png" title="Women in Global Sourcing: Sydney Fellabaum" class="colorbox" rel="gallery-node-1379-XXZA0VEUU70"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/styles/juicebox_medium/public/articles/WIGS_SydneyFellabaum.png?itok=JDyQMJSk" width="624" height="325" alt="" title="" /></a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-intro field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"> <p>Future of Sourcing Digital is thrilled to launch a new series titled &ldquo;Women in Global in Sourcing.&rdquo; This series strives to highlight, celebrate and acknowledge women who are pioneers and leaders in the industry and who have been influential in moving the industry forward. Future of Sourcing is thrilled to welcome Sydney Fellabaum to the series.</p> <p>Sydney Fellabaum graduated from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. &nbsp;Her declared majors were Supply Chain Operations coupled with a minor in Management Information Systems. Sydney chose to start her career at 3M Corporation in St. Paul, MN.</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <div><strong><em>Tell us about your career path. How did you get into this field? Was it purposeful or by accident?&nbsp;</em></strong></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>I am currently at the beginning of my career. I have been in the workforce, and in sourcing, for about a year and a half. I studied supply chain in college after discovering I had a passion for the breadth and complexity a supply chain has in a company. While in business school I pursued a supply chain internship and fell into the sourcing organization. I quickly realized sourcing was the perfect fit for me because of the emphasis on relationship building - with suppliers, internal clients and peers. &nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong><em>Would you follow that same path again if you had the choice?&nbsp;</em></strong></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>I would say that so far, I am very happy with my decision to pursue sourcing. It has been an area that challenges me every day. Sourcing requires problem solving, relationship building and expanding knowledge. Each day in my position is completely different than the one before. The variety keeps the job interesting and motivates me to adapt quickly. &nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong><em>What has been the single most significant development to impact your profession or area of business during your career and why?&nbsp;</em></strong></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The most obvious significant development is technology, which is evolving very quickly and impacting sourcing every day. Transactions that used to be done manually, using the resources of many parties, are now performed in seconds by a computer. Forecasting, the purchasing process and visibility of material through the supply chain are now done in real time. This has decreased the amount of people required in the Supply Chain organization. Yet I believe sourcing is an exception to the downsizing within supply chain because computers are not able to replace or simulate the relationships between a supplier and a customer. The strategic concentration of sourcing cannot be replaced by computers.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong><em>What&rsquo;s the biggest challenge facing your industry today - and how do you plan to solve it?&nbsp;</em></strong></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The biggest challenge facing our industry today is the increase in speed to market. The Amazons of the world are dramatically changing the timeline needed for a successful supply chain. Companies must invest in their big data, artificial intelligence and information technology (IT) to increase visibility, find bottlenecks in their system and create a faster speed to market. Because sourcing is the beginning of the supply chain, we need to quickly source materials for the success of the entire supply chain. By building relationships with our suppliers we build our networks and increase our response time to changes in the marketplace.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><em><strong>What do you consider to be your greatest achievement career-wise?&nbsp;</strong></em></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Although my career within sourcing has been short so far, I would say my greatest achievement is getting as involved as possible with initiatives I am passionate about. I am blessed to have a company that encourages diversity, empowers women and gives employees the opportunity to support the causes we are enthusiastic about. Getting involved and empowering others is a fulfilling path and I am proud of the progress I have made so far.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><em><strong>What&rsquo;s your biggest (as yet) unfulfilled ambition - and how are you going to achieve it?&nbsp;</strong></em></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Within my career I would like to get a breadth of experience and knowledge. I plan on exploring as many opportunities as possible, traveling whenever I have the chance and taking advantage of the many career paths available to me.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><em><strong>What three words do you think your colleagues and peers would use to describe you?&nbsp;</strong></em></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>I think the three words my colleagues would use to describe me are adaptable, collaborative and leader.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong><em>Finally, what piece of advice would you give to young women starting their careers in the field of sourcing, outsourcing and procurement?&nbsp;</em></strong></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>For young women starting their careers I would empower them to learn as much as possible and never turn down an opportunity, even if it doesn&rsquo;t appear to be valuable at first.&nbsp;</div> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/career-building" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Career Building</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/sourcing" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Sourcing</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/relationship-management" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Relationship Management</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/supply-chain-management" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Supply Chain Management</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/disruption" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Disruption</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-addthis field-type-addthis field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style " addthis:title="Women in Global Sourcing: Sydney Fellabaum - Future of Sourcing" addthis:url="http://futureofsourcing.com/women-in-global-sourcing-sydney-fellabaum"><a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_linkedin"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_facebook"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_twitter"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_googleplus"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_pinterest_share"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_reddit"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_email"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_print"></a> </div> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-region field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Region:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/regions/global" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Global</a></div></div></div> Thu, 21 Feb 2019 18:45:23 +0000 Sydney Fallabaum 1379 at http://futureofsourcing.com http://futureofsourcing.com/women-in-global-sourcing-sydney-fellabaum#comments Rising Stars of Sourcing: Krystelle Bilodeau http://futureofsourcing.com/rising-stars-of-sourcing-krystelle-bilodeau <div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/Rising%20Stars%20of%20Sourcing_Krystelle%20Bilodeau.png"><a href="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/Rising%20Stars%20of%20Sourcing_Krystelle%20Bilodeau.png" title="Rising Stars of Sourcing: Krystelle Bilodeau" class="colorbox" rel="gallery-node-1356-XXZA0VEUU70"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/styles/juicebox_medium/public/articles/Rising%20Stars%20of%20Sourcing_Krystelle%20Bilodeau.png?itok=4MbgFJ2y" width="624" height="325" alt="" title="" /></a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-intro field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"> <p>Future of Sourcing Digital is excited to launch a new series titled &ldquo;Rising Starts of Sourcing.&rdquo; This series will recognize individuals newer to the industry whose thought leadership and expertise have shown promise &nbsp;that is likely to have a lasting impact on the industry. We are excited to kick off this series with Krystelle Bilodeau, who was the recipient of the Rising Star Award at SIG&#39;s Global Executive Summit in the Fall of 2018.</p> <p>Krystelle Bilodeau is currently Advisor on Third Party Risk at the Bank of Canada. Krystelle has worked in the financial sector for over 16 years with 11 years at the central Bank. Throughout her career, Krystelle has established herself as a versatile professional holding leadership positions in a broad range of areas including Director of Retail and Wholesale Debt Administration responsible for large and complex outsourced operations.</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <div><strong><em>Tell us about your career path and how you got into this field &ndash; was it purposeful or by accident?&nbsp;</em></strong></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>My history with sourcing and &nbsp;<a href="https://futureofsourcing.com/the-importance-of-risk-culture-in-an-organization-hint-its-everything" target="_blank">third-party risk management</a> came as a bit of an accident. As part of my responsibilities as Director of Retail and Wholesale Debt for a central bank, I became responsible for a large and complex outsourced relationship. This required that I become a bit of an expert as well in sourcing, relationship management and third-party risk management. And so I looked to build my networks, make contacts with experts and get involved in projects that would help me be a thought leader in this aspect of the work that I was responsible for, and that&rsquo;s where my passion for the field started. I was provided the opportunity to get involved and collaborate on several initiatives that not only helped me do my job, but also helped me learn, grow and give back. &nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong><em>If you didn&rsquo;t work in sourcing, what career path would you have chosen?&nbsp;</em></strong></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Well, I don&rsquo;t work in sourcing. My career has been in the financial industry, the past 12 years of which have been for the Bank of Canada (Canada&rsquo;s central bank). The Bank has allowed me to work in some very different fields &ndash; from retail debt management, to strategic planning and business excellence, to currency education and awareness, to the office of the COO, to risk management &ndash; where I am at the moment for the next year renewing and implementing a &nbsp;new third-party risk program. I&rsquo;m not sure what is in store for me next, my only requirement is that I continue to learn something new, be challenged and add value to my organization. &nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong><em>What do you feel sets you apart as a rising star in sourcing?&nbsp;</em></strong></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Certainly what fuels me is getting involved in interesting things. My network has provided me with many opportunities to contribute to challenge the status quo, think about new things in new ways and contribute to thought leadership. In the past year alone I have had the opportunity to:&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <ul> <li>Be a part of SIG&rsquo;s Thought Leaders Council &nbsp;</li> <li>Contribute to <a href="https://futureofsourcing.com/women-in-global-sourcing-linda-tuck-chapman" target="_blank">Linda Tuck Chapman&rsquo;s</a> book &quot;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/s?k=third+party+risk+management+driving+enterprise+value&amp;crid=3R03HSBD7TORR&amp;sprefix=third+party+risk+%2Caps%2C215&amp;ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_17" target="_blank">Third-Party Risk Management: Driving Enterprise Value</a>&quot;</li> <li>Join the SIG University (SIG U) faculty delivering some learning modules for <a href="https://www.sig.org/sig-university" target="_blank">SIG U&rsquo;s Certified Third Party Risk Management Program</a></li> <li>Collaborate with a university researcher on published thought leadership on the changing workforce &nbsp;</li> <li>Be honord with the &ldquo;Rising Star Award&rdquo; as part of SIG&rsquo;s <a href="http://futureofsourcingawards.com" target="_blank">Future of Sourcing Awards</a></li> <li>Help launch a women&rsquo;s leadership network in our organization called PotentiELLE</li> </ul> <p>So, I would say perhaps my enthusiasm for extracurricular interests may contribute to this distinction.&nbsp;</p> <div><strong><em>Do you have any mentors who have helped you in your career?&nbsp;</em></strong></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Yes, yes and yes! I very much value the perspectives and inputs of colleagues and distinguished professionals. I have always made a point of having two mentors (one in the private sector and one in the public sector). I consult not only on my career path and opportunities, but also on how to handle tricky situations, or how to position or brand myself. I have never expected a mentor to help promote my career, but rather one who provides thoughtful and honest advice.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><em><strong>What professionally motivates you and gives you drive?&nbsp;</strong></em></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Having responsibility; coaching, mentoring and seeing others achieve their objectives; and feeling like my contributions add value for the organization.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong><em>Can you share any professional goals you&rsquo;ve set for yourself for 2019 and how you plan to achieve them?&nbsp;</em></strong></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>2019 is a year for me to learn &ndash; I have been given an opportunity to learn more about third-party risk from a process and implementation perspective and I intend to maximize that learning to further my thinking. &nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>I also have the opportunity to work for an organization and in positions that allow me to get involved in many other areas of the Bank and learn about what they do &ndash; I intend to continue to do that as well.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong><em>What do you think will be the big trends in sourcing and procurement this year?&nbsp;</em></strong></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>A growing concern that is getting more attention these days (certainly in the risk space, but also in the public governance space) that I think may become a trend in sourcing is the growing concern for the threat of ecological collapse. I think a trend for activity and discussion around ecologically responsible sourcing may see an upswing over the next while.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Another is the increased concentration in technology players and the risks of that concentration (in our third, and nth parties) not only on our organization but in the larger systemic context.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong><em>What tips do you have for maintaining a work-life balance?&nbsp;</em></strong></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Compartmentalization &ndash; I try to segregate my day job from my home job as a mom. I will go into the office at 4 a.m. to get something done rather than mingle it with my home life. It keeps me sane.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Exercise &ndash; always good for mind, body and spirit!&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong><em>What advice do you have for those who are new to the profession or considering entering the industry?&nbsp;</em></strong></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Get curious and get involved.&nbsp;</div> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/risk" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Risk</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/third-party-risk-management" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Third Party Risk Management</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/leadership" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Leadership</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/governance" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Governance</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/relationship-management" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Relationship Management</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-addthis field-type-addthis field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style " addthis:title="Rising Stars of Sourcing: Krystelle Bilodeau - Future of Sourcing" addthis:url="http://futureofsourcing.com/rising-stars-of-sourcing-krystelle-bilodeau"><a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_linkedin"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_facebook"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_twitter"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_googleplus"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_pinterest_share"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_reddit"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_email"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_print"></a> </div> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-region field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Region:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/regions/global" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Global</a></div></div></div> Fri, 25 Jan 2019 03:59:08 +0000 Krystelle Bilodeau 1356 at http://futureofsourcing.com http://futureofsourcing.com/rising-stars-of-sourcing-krystelle-bilodeau#comments Opportunism: the other side of trust (Part 2) http://futureofsourcing.com/node/757 <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p><em>To read Part 1 of this article,&nbsp;<a data-mce-="" href="http://outsourcemag.com/opportunism-the-other-side-of-trust-part-1" target="_blank">click here</a>.</em></p> <hr /> <p><strong>Social Norms To Do Business By</strong></p> <p><em>Reciprocity&nbsp;</em>obligates businesspeople to make fair and balanced exchanges. If one company accepts a business risk, the other must be prepared to do the same. If one company commits to invest time and money in an important project, the other must be prepared to reciprocate. They decide what is fair and balanced through the negotiation conversation and by applying the rest of the guiding principles.</p> <p><em>Autonomy</em>&nbsp;means abstaining from using power to promote one party&rsquo;s self-interest at the expense of the other. At the individual level, autonomy refers to the ability to act based on reasons and motives reflecting the individual&rsquo;s own values and convictions. The same applies to business relationships. Businesses want to make their own decisions, free from the power of another; they want to work as equals and they want to be part of a process that allows them to make decisions in sync with each other.</p> <p><em>Honesty</em>: healthy relationships require honesty as the only policy with accuracy and authenticity as the cornerstones. Accurate or fact-based conversations separate the facts from the explanations that interpret or colour those facts. A fact is something that is observable. An explanation accounts for the fact.&nbsp;Authentic conversations take accurate conversations to the next level and leverage multiple points of view to gain new insights and opportunities for improvement, growth, or change. When conversations are authentic, each person&rsquo;s point of view is genuine while that person also recognises that an individual point of view is not the whole story.</p> <p><em>Loyalty</em>&nbsp;obliges both companies to be loyal to the relationship. Loyalty to the relationship will come when both companies&rsquo; interests are treated as equally important. Loyalty is not being loyal under all circumstances to one company. It is not about sticking together no matter what. Loyalty is about loyalty to the relationship as a single entity.</p> <p><em>Equity</em>&nbsp;has two equally important components: proportionality and remedies. Proportionality means one company may get a larger distribution of rewards (remedy) than the other to compensate that company for taking greater risks or making investments (proportionality). An equitable remedy allows the companies to come to a fair resolution when the contract itself may otherwise limit the result or be silent on the matter. For example, the contract might inadequately address the service provider&rsquo;s performance requirements during a catastrophic natural disaster, such as a Category 4 hurricane. Any resulting ambiguity should be discussed with the principle of equity in mind.</p> <p><em>Integrity</em>: simply stated, integrity means consistency in decision-making and in actions. Intuitively, people understand this principle. People want to be able to rely on each other and know that they will get the same result from the same set of actions.</p> <p><strong>Stop and Ask Yourself These Five Questions&nbsp;</strong></p> <p>Before you consider implementing these social norms, stop and ask yourself these five questions. Answering them will help you understand the nature of an existing relationship.</p> <ul> <li>How do you (your organisation) define being trustworthy?</li> <li>Is the other party&rsquo;s definition of trustworthiness the same as your definition and that of your organisation?</li> <li>Are there challenges to acting in a trustworthy manner? For example, do you or does your organisation make excuses for not being trustworthy?</li> <li>What challenges does the other person or organisation face in acting in a trustworthy manner? For example, does that person or that organisation make excuses for not being trustworthy?</li> <li>Have each of you acted in an opportunistic way? If so, how will you repair the lost trust?</li> </ul> <p>If you feel that there is a common enough definition of trustworthiness, then consider implementing the six principles as part of the relationship governance structure. And, if you have acted opportunistically, then by all means, have a conversation about the principles to repair any lost trust.</p> <p>There is such a documented financial upside to working more collaboratively, that it makes little financial sense to continue with opportunistic behaviours. Here is just one small example from my white paper entitled&nbsp;<em>Unpacking Collaboration Theory</em>.</p> <p><strong>The Financial Benefits of Reduced Opportunism&nbsp;</strong></p> <p>When companies trust each other by having a common set of social norms in place, they place a check on opportunistic tendencies within both companies. For example, a customer who has the right norms in place may choose not send work out for a competitive bid and instead enter negotiations with the incumbent supplier. The cost to go to market to get a better deal - referred to as bargaining costs - is one facet of transaction costs.</p> <p>Reducing bargaining costs frees up much needed time and money, which can be re-invested by both companies to achieve shared goals for the relationship. But, this can only happen when there is enough trust and little chance for opportunism to thrive.</p> <p><strong>Conclusion&nbsp;</strong></p> <p>Research conducted in sociology, game theory, economics and other social sciences shows that relationships based on trust, reciprocity and other social norms outperform more traditional relationships.</p> <p>While social scientists have proven time and again that a collaborative approach to working together outperforms a more traditionally transactional approach, organisations still enter into conventional transactions which tend to foster opportunistic actions by both the buyer and the supplier.</p> <p>These same organisations who engage in opportunistic behaviours lament the lack of innovation, inflexibility to meet market challenges, unrealised profit potential - and more importantly fail to establish sustainable supply chain relationships.</p> <p>Many individuals and businesses fail to realise they have a choice between being trustworthy and being opportunistic to reach their goals. Too often business leaders do what those before them did without evaluating the effectiveness of their choice.</p> <p>You are now more informed about opportunism. What will you do to pursue your goals?</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/governance" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Governance</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/supply-chain-management" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Supply Chain Management</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/relationship-management" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Relationship Management</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/research" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Research</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/security" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Security</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-addthis field-type-addthis field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style " addthis:title="Opportunism: the other side of trust (Part 2) - Future of Sourcing" addthis:url="http://futureofsourcing.com/node/757"><a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_linkedin"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_facebook"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_twitter"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_googleplus"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_pinterest_share"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_reddit"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_email"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_print"></a> </div> </div></div></div> Mon, 08 Aug 2016 13:04:59 +0000 Jeanette Nyden 757 at http://futureofsourcing.com TOP TEN: Rock-Inspired Sourcing Insights http://futureofsourcing.com/node/759 <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p>Vast forests of digital trees have been sacrificed to the topic of sourcing. While the incessant stream of white papers, articles, blogs, tweets and posts we&rsquo;re bombarded with are certainly helpful, don&rsquo;t they all start sounding the same after a while?</p> <p>While working recently with some music playing in the background, I was struck by the idea that some song titles and lyrics reflect typical sourcing scenarios as well as specific relationships I&rsquo;ve encountered over the years. That got me to thinking about other songs that might also apply, and inspired the following list of ten songs that describe sourcing relationships. Whether you are a buyer of services or a provider of services, you might recognise some of these&hellip;</p> <p><strong>1. Welcome to the Jungle (Guns N&rsquo; Roses)</strong><br />This song perfectly fits the scenario where the client and provider have rushed into an agreement with minimal communication, planning or alignment. Basically, each party rushes to get to their version of the end state as quickly as possible, with little coordination or communication between client, provider and key stakeholders. Both parties constantly struggle to define and meet expectations, and the relationship quickly turns to finger-pointing as the first course of action.<br /><em>Key lyric:</em>&nbsp;&ldquo;Welcome to the jungle it gets worse here every day, you learn to live like an animal in the jungle where we play&hellip;&rdquo;</p> <p><strong>2. Livin&rsquo; on a Prayer (Bon Jovi)</strong><br />The song reflects a lack of insight into what tomorrow will bring. Things may be going relatively well overall, but both parties share a sense of apprehension about how to get to the desired end state. Amidst a general sense of chaos, lots of good work is being done, and the relationship is characterised by a shared commitment to success &ndash; although no one really knows how that will happen.<br /><em>Key lyric:</em>&nbsp;&ldquo;We&#39;ve gotta hold on ready or not, you live for the fight when it&#39;s all that you&#39;ve got&hellip;&rdquo;</p> <p><strong>3. You Can&rsquo;t Always Get What You Want (The Rolling Stones)</strong><br />Frequently (as in almost always), disconnects arise between desired expectations and what is actually being delivered. All parties should think through the relative importance of such gaps &ndash; are they small irritants? Or do they reflect material issues? No matter the dialogue that occurred before the contract was signed, both parties will consistently look for ways to maximise value from the relationship. The key is to manage the relationship to align as much as possible on adjustments to the agreement, and to also recognise that sometimes you can&rsquo;t always get what you want.<br /><em>Key lyric:</em>&nbsp;&ldquo;You can&#39;t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you just might find you get what you need&hellip;&rdquo;</p> <p><strong>4. My Own Worst Enemy (Lit)</strong><br />Face it: sometimes when things aren&rsquo;t going well you only have yourself to blame. One party expects quick and absolute decisions, while the other party requires time and deliberation to make a decision. One party expects one collective voice, while the other party has several entities with conflicting requirements, priorities and/or processes. One party thought they wanted one thing in the contract, only to find it wants or needs something else now. Whatever the situation, look in the mirror to determine what you may or may not be doing that is contributing to a strained relationship.<br /><em>Key lyric:</em>&nbsp;&ldquo;It&rsquo;s no surprise to me, I am my own worst enemy&hellip;&rdquo;</p> <p><strong>5. We&rsquo;re Not Gonna Take It (Twisted Sister)</strong><br />A strained sourcing relationship, left on its own with little corrective action, can get to the point of no return. This &ldquo;death by a thousand paper cuts&rdquo; can eventually lead to one party deciding to either exit the relationship early or to not renew the relationship once the contract term ends. At this point, the trust has been broken, and practically no amount of contract concessions, price reductions, or other incentives will work. If a relationship reaches this stage, exiting the deal gracefully is probably preferable to continuing the fight.<br /><em>Key lyric:</em>&nbsp;&ldquo;If that&#39;s your best, your best won&#39;t do.&quot;</p> <p><strong>6. Won&rsquo;t Get Fooled Again (The Who)</strong><br />Especially for clients in their first major sourcing agreement, many lessons can be learned and applied to the next sourcing agreement. These lessons typically include, &ldquo;We retained too much or too little,&rdquo; &ldquo;We assumed the other party would do&nbsp;<em>X</em>&nbsp;and they didn&rsquo;t,&rdquo; &ldquo;We underestimated the effort to manage the agreement,&rdquo; &ldquo;We asked for&nbsp;<em>X</em>&nbsp;but should have asked for&nbsp;<em>Y</em>,&rdquo; etc. Depending on the timing of these revelations, adjustments can be negotiated within the existing agreement, or can be applied to the next agreement. Think through these lessons and update your sourcing strategy going forward. Don&rsquo;t get fooled again!<br /><em>Key lyric:</em>&nbsp;&ldquo;Then I&#39;ll get on my knees and pray, we don&#39;t get fooled again&hellip;&rdquo;</p> <p><strong>7. Comfortably Numb (Pink Floyd)</strong><br />As a consultant, I frequently enter into an environment where a long-term sourcing agreement has been in place and both parties have reached a state of complacency. They have worked together for so long that neither recognises the inefficiencies that exist, nor the potential value adds that are nearly self-evident to an outsider. Both parties are seemingly just going through the motions. Even as new ideas develop, processing, prioritising and making the changes required to implement and realise benefits poses a challenge. The overall relationship can be considered successful, but opportunities exist to rejuvenate and refresh the relationship to be even more beneficial to both parties.<br /><em>Key lyric:</em>&nbsp;&ldquo;Your lips move but I can&#39;t hear what you&#39;re saying&hellip;&rdquo;</p> <p><strong>8. I Want You to Want Me (Cheap Trick)</strong><br />This song is especially dedicated to those providers who are so excited to have a &ldquo;marquee&rdquo; client that they will do almost anything to make the client happy. While seemingly great from a client perspective, this attitude can result in short-term happiness at the expense of longer-term pain. At some point, the provider has to stop coddling the client. Otherwise, the compounded cost of fulfilling the client&rsquo;s every minor whim and desire erodes the provider&rsquo;s business case and materially affects their P&amp;Ls. Typically, this results in the provider&rsquo;s executive team taking control and invoking startling behavioural changes to try to rectify the situation. This can become a huge strain on the relationship and usually results in key personnel changes to attempt to correct the situation.<br /><em>Key lyric:</em>&nbsp;&ldquo;I want you to want me; I need you to need me; I&#39;d love you to love me; I&#39;m beggin&#39; you to beg me&hellip;&rdquo;</p> <p><strong>9. Money For Nothing (Dire Straits)</strong><br />Even when the relationship is good, services are being delivered, and contracted price points are being met, many clients will start getting a sense that they are paying more than they should be. This is particularly true when the provider increases its offshore delivery or implements tools, automation and/or autonomics to reduce the labour required to provide services. Even when those changes are allowed (or maybe even specifically required) in the contract, clients can&rsquo;t resist counting bodies and wondering if they are paying &ldquo;money for nothing.&rdquo; While the contract may contain benchmarking clauses, they can be ambiguous and difficult to execute and enforce. If that&rsquo;s the case, the parties can instead discuss the issue and agree on a course of action that allows the client to realise some of the additional cost benefits, while also allowing the provider to improve its margin.<br /><em>Key lyric:</em>&nbsp;&ldquo;Now that ain&#39;t workin&#39; that&#39;s the way you do it, lemme tell ya them guys ain&#39;t dumb&hellip;&rdquo;</p> <p><strong>10. Should I Stay or Should I Go (The Clash)&nbsp;</strong><br />As the saying goes, the grass is not always greener on the other side. However, after a long-term sourcing relationship, especially one that has had its share of ups and downs, a client may decide that moving to another provider will yield benefits. Many times this is an emotional decision rather than one based on facts. Take an objective look at the situation and ask questions such as, &ldquo;What problem goes away by making such a move?&rdquo; &ldquo;Why can&rsquo;t my current provider address the issues?&rdquo; &ldquo;Is the transition cost and risk worth the perceived additional value?&rdquo; and &ldquo;Could it get worse instead of better?&rdquo;<br /><em>Key lyric:</em>&nbsp;&ldquo;If I go, there will be trouble, and if I stay it will be double&hellip;&rdquo;</p> <p>Sourcing relationships are complicated. Yet, the complexities, angst and heartache that often characterise them are not unique. In fact, many of the songs we grew up with (and perhaps still listen to today) speak to the difficulty of making a sourcing relationship work - which suggests that (as we focus on issues such as value realisation, mature vendor management, scope realignment and process optimisation) we consider that at an important level, sourcing relationships are fundamentally human in nature. Or as the Monkees put it (via Neil Diamond&rsquo;s lyrics): &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a little bit me, and it&rsquo;s a little bit you, too.&rdquo;</p> <p><em>(Editor&#39;s note: any readers feeling inspired to contribute their own additions to this list are more than welcome; if we get enough we&#39;ll publish a sequel to this article at an appropriate juncture. Please send all suggestions through to me at <a href="mailto:hcorr@sig.org">hcorr@sig.org</a>.)</em></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/advisory" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Advisory</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/alignment" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Alignment</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/benchmarking" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Benchmarking</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/relationship-management" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Relationship Management</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/sourcing" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Sourcing</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-addthis field-type-addthis field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style " addthis:title="TOP TEN: Rock-Inspired Sourcing Insights - Future of Sourcing" addthis:url="http://futureofsourcing.com/node/759"><a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_linkedin"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_facebook"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_twitter"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_googleplus"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_pinterest_share"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_reddit"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_email"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_print"></a> </div> </div></div></div> Fri, 05 Aug 2016 12:57:55 +0000 David Mitchell 759 at http://futureofsourcing.com Opportunism: the other side of trust (Part 1) http://futureofsourcing.com/node/751 <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p>We often hear stories of business relationships that appeared strong suddenly turning sour. These relationships may even have existed for some time. So what is going on? It is likely acts of opportunism.</p> <p>Here&rsquo;s an example. A client of mine awarded a multimillion-dollar, multi-year deal to the lowest bidder. The bid was characterised as &ldquo;too good to be true&rdquo;; and, indeed it was too good to be true. Over 18 months, the supplier has run over budget, been late on scheduled delivery of services, and both companies are in a dispute about whether the supplier actually performed work for which it invoiced my client more than 12 months ago. The supplier has increased its back office staff from five to 15, lost its performance bonus and feels the pressure that its head is on the chopping block. My client is way over budget, had to staff up to meet deadlines and feels quite a bit of buyer&rsquo;s remorse.</p> <p>Why would the supplier bid so low? Why would the buying company award the business? Could this situation be explained by acts of opportunism on both sides of the relationship? To understand opportunism we first have to understand trust, because without some level of trust, there can be no opportunism.</p> <p><strong>Trust Is the Other Side of Opportunism</strong></p> <p>Trust is the core quality of any collaborative partnership. Trust lowers transaction costs, fosters innovation and provides the necessary space for the flexibility and agility needed in today&rsquo;s business relationships.</p> <p>Trust is a choice. Individuals can choose to trust each other and choose to act in a trustworthy manner. Or, they choose not to. It is that simple. Business relationships with high degrees of trust can spend their energies leveraging each other&rsquo;s core strengths and creating value, rather than on compliance, enforcement, or worse, fighting metaphorical fires as a result of poor performance.</p> <p>Trust, however, creates the opportunity for one party to take advantage of the other. This ability to take advantage of the other party is often called &ldquo;opportunism&rdquo;. Oliver Williamson, the Nobel Prize-winning economist described it as &ldquo;self-interest seeking with guile&rdquo;.</p> <p>Opportunism in today&rsquo;s pressured environments can be very attractive to decision-makers who are expected to continually improve results. Unfortunately, people don&rsquo;t get how opportunistic actions are driven by their own desires and not the other party&rsquo;s actions. In effect, when one party acts opportunistically, they justify their actions by blaming the other party for their own actions.</p> <p>In the situation above, the supplier chose to submit a ridiculously low bid and my client chose to accept it. Now, mind you they blame outside influences for those choices. The supplier claims it felt economic pressure in the industry to lower prices to stay competitive, and my client also feeling economic pressures to reduce costs awarded the work based on unusually low pricing. Nonetheless, each acted of their own accord. Each was acting out their own form of opportunism.</p> <p><strong>Why Choose Opportunism?</strong></p> <p>Trust and the threat of opportunism are two opposing forces fighting for the negotiator&rsquo;s attention. Commentators have suggested that opportunistic behavior is the default position in many business relationships. In fact, Dan Airley in his book&nbsp;<em>The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone &ndash; Especially Ourselves</em>&nbsp;may shed some light on this subject. He suggests that opportunism may well be inevitable. Airley proposes that we are all in a delicate balance between our desire for gain by whatever means and our need to see ourselves as a &lsquo;good person&rsquo;. This is the balance between being opportunistic and being trustworthy.</p> <p>Much of the prevailing thinking in the area of contract law is built around the concept that without controls embedded into contracts all arrangements would be subject to opportunism. It is often tempting to write contracts that make the consequences of opportunistic behaviour so extreme that it will make any attempt to seek unfair advantage uneconomically feasible. This approach to contracting assumes that negotiators will detect opportunistic behavior, which might be difficult.</p> <p><strong>Active and Passive Forms of Opportunism</strong></p> <p>Opportunism comes in many forms. Researchers in Norway and the US identified that it could be either active or passive. Active opportunism is usually employed by the powerful party. It can involve activities ranging from pushing out payment terms to arbitrarily taking discounts on invoices. Passive opportunism is of course more subtle; it can include actions such as not providing innovative ideas to the other party or letting quality standards slide.</p> <p>It is extremely likely that where there is active opportunism from one party there will be passive opportunism from the other. Perhaps the most recognised case of passive opportunism is the&nbsp;<em>General Motors (GM) v. Fisher Body</em>&nbsp;case. This relationship sparked vigorous debate between leading economists. Many years ago, GM offered Fisher Body an exclusive contact for a number of years to ensure a consistent supply of vehicle bodies. To attract Fisher Body, GM offered a pricing structure where GM would pay Fisher Body cost plus 17.5% margin. This payment approach did not incentivise performance but rather created a perverse incentive in that the more inefficient Fisher Body was the more money they got paid (in cost reimbursement).</p> <p>The issue came to a head when GM asked Fisher Body to move their factories closer to the GM vehicle production facilities (which would lower freight costs and reduce lead time) and to invest in higher levels of automation in producing bodies (which would replace expensive labour with more efficient methods). Since there was a financial incentive for Fisher Body to maintain inefficient production methods and to locate factories where they could service other vehicle production companies at no penalty, they refused. To solve its need for cost savings and production efficiencies, GM bought Fisher Body and made it a 100%-owned subsidiary.</p> <p><strong>Personal and Corporate Forms of Opportunism&nbsp;</strong></p> <p>Opportunistic behaviour can come from the decisions of an individual or from corporate policy. Personal ethics, or the lack thereof, can have an impact on contract negotiations. The attitudes of senior management can have a very significant effect on the degree to which staff may undertake opportunistic actions with their counterparts.</p> <p>Research in the US found that senior leadership influenced the degree of opportunism directly when they acted opportunistically themselves, but also indirectly when their staff noted and followed the same opportunistic behaviour patterns.</p> <p>In the case of corporate opportunism the firm may, as part of a larger strategy, decide to use (misuse) its market power to improve its position vis-a-vis its suppliers. A common example happening today is that of powerful customers arbitrarily pushing out payment terms from 30 to 60 days or beyond throughout the supply chain. Those payment terms often hit the smallest companies in the supply chain the hardest (also a form of active opportunism).</p> <p><strong>Establishing Enough Trust to Subdue Opportunism&nbsp;</strong></p> <p>Because trust is so fundamental to success and opportunism is such a real threat to success, companies (and the negotiators who architect the agreements) should establish their business relationship around six social norms. The norms outlined below are the same ones that govern successful societies.</p> <p>In my book&nbsp;<em>Getting to We: Negotiating Agreements for Highly Collaborative Relationships</em>, I describe six social norms, referred to as guiding principles. These social norms serve as the foundation for developing trust. They are reciprocity, autonomy, honesty, equity, loyalty and integrity. These principles, so important in our personal endeavours and interactions, also drive collaborative business behaviours and sustainable business partnerships.</p> <p>Business people really must accept the precept of abiding by social norms. If negotiators don&rsquo;t actively establish them, then the parties&rsquo; will passively work from their organisation&rsquo;s unwritten social norms. If those unwritten social norms conflict, there are enormous problems.</p> <p>On the other hand, with a commonly agreed to set of social norms for the relationship, opportunism will wane because the chosen norms will guide the behaviours of individuals and organisations alike to help them make the right decisions for the benefit of the relationship.</p> <p>To maintain trust, each company is responsible for always following the principles. For example, if both companies take seriously the principles of loyalty and integrity, the buying company will not disingenuously threaten suppliers with re-bidding work, and suppliers do not sell the &ldquo;A&rdquo; team just to substitute the less expensive &ldquo;C&rdquo; team to make a hefty profit.</p> <p><em>To continue reading this article,&nbsp;<a href="http://outsourcemag.com/opportunism-the-other-side-of-trust-part-2/" target="_blank">click here</a>&hellip;</em></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/relationship-management" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Relationship Management</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/partnership" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Partnership</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/procurement" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Procurement</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/innovation" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Innovation</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/ethics" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Ethics</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-addthis field-type-addthis field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style " addthis:title="Opportunism: the other side of trust (Part 1) - Future of Sourcing" addthis:url="http://futureofsourcing.com/node/751"><a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_linkedin"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_facebook"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_twitter"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_googleplus"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_pinterest_share"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_reddit"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_email"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_print"></a> </div> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-region field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Region:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/regions/global" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Global</a></div></div></div> Mon, 01 Aug 2016 13:01:17 +0000 Jeanette Nyden 751 at http://futureofsourcing.com Avoid or Approach Those Who Purchase? http://futureofsourcing.com/avoid-or-approach-those-who-purchase <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p>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&rsquo;d become very cynical and prejudicial towards purchasing departments. As an IOSP to the auto industry, I&rsquo;d witnessed countless purchasing initiatives resulting in bankrupting IOSPs due to a complete lack of foresight.</p> <p>Often I&rsquo;d joke with colleagues that those who chose to be in purchasing were actually from another planet, spoke a completely different language, and used their own dictionary. We&rsquo;d go into sessions and talk about value add, but purchasing heard lower invoice cost. We&rsquo;d discuss collaborating, and they heard dictating. We&rsquo;d say competitive, and they heard low-cost. Over the decades, relationships between IOSPs and Purchasing became increasingly strained. Initiatives such as target pricing slowly eroded any level of trust or loyalty. The recent phone call from Anne, however, was different. The tone was different. The arrogance normally present was replaced with a level of humility, a real sense of gratitude for my agreeing to make the trip and spend time with her team.</p> <p>I pulled into the visitors&rsquo; lot, grabbed my bag, strode through the lobby, and signed in with security. In minutes Anne herself met me, and escorted me to a small conference room to meet her team.</p> <p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to introduce you to Dean, my nemesis,&rdquo; Anne said, offering me a seat at the table in the middle of the group.</p> <p>&ldquo;Good morning. I&rsquo;m Mandy, our contracts administrator.&rdquo;</p> <p>&ldquo;Pleasure to meet you. I&rsquo;m JP, our contracts engineering liaison.&rdquo;</p> <p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m Ben, the indirect purchasing specialist. We&rsquo;ve heard a lot about you from Anne.&rdquo;</p> <p>&ldquo;Nemesis?&rdquo; I asked, looking at Anne.</p> <p>&ldquo;Yes. You have always provided me with a rival perspective over the years, which is the reason I sought you out to help us today,&rdquo; Anne replied, taking her seat.</p> <p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re in trouble with our inside-outsourcing service providers. Specifically, we are struggling with getting them to be our partners,&rdquo; Mandy said, eyeing Anne as she spoke.</p> <p>&ldquo;Dean, you&rsquo;ve been around too long to sugar-coat the issue. We&rsquo;ve managed to lose the loyalty of our IOSPs. We cannot even get them to approach us with new ideas or solutions, and we&rsquo;re hoping you can help us see their perspective,&rdquo; Anne stated in a pretty solemn tone, making eye contact with each member of her team.</p> <p>&ldquo;We prepared a presentation for you outlining key performance metrics and how our IOSPs stack up against those metrics,&rdquo; JP said, as Ben opened up his laptop to project their charts and graphs on an overhead screen.</p> <p>&ldquo;JP, I&rsquo;m sure your presentation is very good, but I think you need to take a step back and consider the one troubling thing I&rsquo;ve heard so far. Your IOSPs are avoiding you. Is that accurate?&rdquo; I asked.</p> <p>&ldquo;Very accurate,&rdquo; Ben exclaimed.</p> <p>&ldquo;Then your solutions start with that problem. What you probably don&rsquo;t want to hear is that the fix will take time. You did not lose the trust and loyalty of your IOSPs overnight and you will not get it back overnight, but you can get it back,&rdquo; I said, surveying the room for comprehension.</p> <p>My mind wandered to an article I&rsquo;d read in the&nbsp;<em>Neuro Leadership Journal</em>&nbsp;by David Rock. In the article, he&rsquo;d simply laid out a model to encourage collaboration. I&rsquo;d worked with this company as a customer for decades and knew their love of models. I felt this might be the best path forward in today&rsquo;s situation.</p> <p>&ldquo;We can&rsquo;t argue your point. We actually came to a similar conclusion ourselves, but we need your help for us to understand how these service providers think,&rdquo; Anne said, receiving nods of agreement from her team.</p> <p>&ldquo;I recently read an article which resonated with me. I think it will give you a framework to resolve your problem. Let me start by asking, why do you outsource the management of your facilities to service providers in the first place?&rdquo;</p> <p>&ldquo;To reduce cost,&rdquo; JP quickly replied.</p> <p>&ldquo;Cost is important for sure, but we also need a level of expertise that we just do not have in-house,&rdquo; Ben added.</p> <p>Mandy chimed in, &ldquo;I agree with cost and expertise, but we also need someone who will focus on non-core areas, allowing us to focus on building cars.&rdquo;</p> <p>&ldquo;I agree with what you all said, but frankly we really suck at it. Our internal cost to perform the work ourselves was out of control, and we were not able to internally rein it back in,&rdquo; Anne said, staring directly at me and conveying a very strong sense of transparency.</p> <p>&ldquo;Okay, very honest response. You are looking for a service provider to accomplish what you cannot, at a competitive cost, who brings a level of expertise to the table, and focuses on innovating how you manage your facilitates. Do I have this right?&rdquo; I asked.</p> <p>&ldquo;Perfectly put,&rdquo; Mandy said.</p> <p>&ldquo;As I service provider if you came to me and shared what I just heard, I would feel honoured to be chosen to help you. You would inevitably increase my status as an expert service provider.&rdquo;</p> <p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve done that with little to no improvement,&rdquo; Ben said.</p> <p>&ldquo;Did your commercial arrangement align with your message, or did your commercial arrangement follow a strict, out-of-date scope, advising your IOSPs to put numbers in cells of a spreadsheet next to each activity line?&rdquo; I asked.</p> <p>&ldquo;Not quite as bad as you make it sound, but in theory you&rsquo;re right,&rdquo; JP said, jotting down a note.</p> <p>&ldquo;So on the one hand you build up the status of the IOSP, and your RFQ tears it back down, making the IOSP feel subservient and not the expert you are looking for,&rdquo; I stated.</p> <p>&ldquo;Am I to assume status is the first part of this model?&rdquo; Anne asked.</p> <p>&ldquo;Absolutely. If you want experts to innovate, you need to treat them as such and keep treating them as such if you wish them to approach you with new ideas,&rdquo; I said</p> <p>&ldquo;I can see where we missed this and where our current commercial model also misses this,&rdquo; Mandy said.</p> <p>&ldquo;The next step on the path is to provide some level of certainty to your IOSPs. Please don&rsquo;t take this the wrong way, but your past practices were to keep your IOSPs on their toes by threatening them with the loss of business. Is that still the rule of thumb, or has it changed?&rdquo; I asked, staring at Anne.</p> <p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s changed corporately, but we&rsquo;re still fighting that issue at the local plant level. On some of the data JP wanted to show you, you&rsquo;d see how IOSPs alter their pricing based on the geography of the site and not the volume of activities being outsourced. That led us to believe and understand they wish to avoid working at those sites, and those sites have also turned over more IOSPs than other sites,&rdquo; Anne said.</p> <p>&ldquo;Excellent observation. When there is a lack of certainty in a business 100% reliant on people, you are going to have a problem. IOSPs need to know that if they meet the goals, they have a future with you.&rdquo;</p> <p>&ldquo;So a level of certainty is the next part of the model?&rdquo; Ben asked.</p> <p>&ldquo;Absolutely, followed by a level of freedom to be the expert. If you want experts, you must allow them to be experts. In many cases, IOSPs are forced to take direction from people on your staff who are not experts but who think they are. This leads to a lack of autonomy for the IOSP, and they need autonomy. It is a key driver for them to bring you new innovative ways of performing services.&rdquo;</p> <p>&ldquo;So the next step is autonomy. We hire experts, we ensure a future, and we give them the freedom to be experts. I&rsquo;m having a &lsquo;duh&rsquo; moment,&rdquo; Ben said.</p> <p>&ldquo;You&rsquo;re not alone,&rdquo; Anne retorted.</p> <p>&ldquo;The fourth part is the one nearest and dearest to my heart. Your IOSP needs to relate to why you are outsourcing this work in the first place. The purpose needs to be made very clear, and desired outcomes must be documented with measurable success factors,&rdquo; I stated.</p> <p>&ldquo;Won&rsquo;t that hurt their status?&rdquo; Mandy asked.</p> <p>&ldquo;No. You are not telling them how to do the work. You are telling them why you need them and what you need them to do. As you progress, you can invite them to help you define what you need done to improve your desired outcomes. The more you do this, the more they will relate to you. The more autonomy you give them actually increases their status.&rdquo;</p> <p>&ldquo;What a different way to think!&rdquo; JP exclaimed.</p> <p>&ldquo;Macro versus micro managing?&rdquo; Ben threw out to the group.</p> <p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been sewn into a rut of operating transactionally and not focusing on the bigger outcome, the real value associated with well ran facilities services,&rdquo; Anne said to the team.</p> <p>&ldquo;Is that it?&rdquo; JP asked.</p> <p>&ldquo;Not quite. You must realise IOSPs are in business to make money &ndash; a reasonable and fair return on their investment. If you continually chase IOSP&rsquo;s costs to you, what you are invoiced, at some point you hit a point of diminishing returns. The service business is 90% plus people costs, and your IOSPs can only provide you with improvements if they&rsquo;re able to engage their people. In the past you dictated bill rates that were poorly investigated and resulted in poor-calibre talent being placed into your facilities, and here you are today wondering why no one approaches you with innovative ideas,&rdquo; I said.</p> <p>&ldquo;We reaped what we sowed. We understand that, Dean,&rdquo; Anne said.</p> <p>&ldquo;The final piece of this conundrum to collaboration is to be fair. Let it be known you are looking for your IOSPs to make a fair return on their investment. It is not fair for you to assume they are making a killing and the money they make is yours. The money they make is theirs. It is their return for managing an innovative, efficient service business. Allow them their profit, and seek out value.&rdquo;</p> <p>&ldquo;This mindset is aligned with where we want to go. You have presented it in a concise manner, something we can model. Our struggle is the starting point. The portfolio of what we outsource to our IOSPs is extremely large,&rdquo; Anne said.</p> <p>&ldquo;Anne, you need to change how you are viewed. Identify the IOSP you trust, one with history, with the right culture, and seek their help to run a pilot.&rdquo;</p> <p>&ldquo;Then what?&rdquo; JP asked.</p> <p>&ldquo;Then you do it again. So one site becomes two, two becomes four, four becomes eight, and so on. During this time you&rsquo;re proving to your IOSPs that you really are a partner. You respect their status, you provide them certainty, give them autonomy by allowing them freedom to run their business, ensure they relate to your true needs, and be fair with them. A decade from today you will have what you once had, a loyal group of IOSPs dedicated to improving your competitive advantage,&rdquo; I said in summary, glancing at the clock.</p> <p>&ldquo;Time does fly when you&rsquo;re having fun! We are just about out of time,&rdquo; Anne started to say, just as JP chimed in.</p> <p>&ldquo;We can&rsquo;t wait a decade.&rdquo;</p> <p>&ldquo;We already did,&rdquo; Ben pointed out.</p> <p>&ldquo;Good point. Maybe even two decades,&rdquo; Mandy said, looking towards JP.</p> <p>&ldquo;The key is to run the pilot, build your confidence and that of your chosen IOSP, and develop a tipping point where trust and loyalty are foundational to your business dealings, and not fear,&rdquo; I said.</p> <p>&ldquo;Dean, let me express our sincere thanks, and let me walk you back down to security,&rdquo; Anne said, getting up from her chair.</p> <p>As I walked down with Anne, she again thanked me for the time, and I began to believe that possibly those in purchasing did not come from another planet, and with continued support we could improve our vernacular and all define value in the same manner.</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/advisory" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Advisory</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/service-provider" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Service Provider</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/procurement" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Procurement</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/purchasing" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Purchasing</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/relationship-management" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Relationship Management</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-addthis field-type-addthis field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style " addthis:title="Avoid or Approach Those Who Purchase? - Future of Sourcing" addthis:url="http://futureofsourcing.com/avoid-or-approach-those-who-purchase"><a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_linkedin"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_facebook"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_twitter"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_googleplus"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_pinterest_share"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_reddit"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_email"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_print"></a> </div> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-region field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Region:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/regions/global" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Global</a></div></div></div> Fri, 03 Jun 2016 12:57:09 +0000 Damian Scallon 954 at http://futureofsourcing.com http://futureofsourcing.com/avoid-or-approach-those-who-purchase#comments Jean Tirole: The science of taming powerful firms http://futureofsourcing.com/jean-tirole-the-science-of-taming-powerful-firms <div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/FOS%20Digital_Kate%20Vitasek_Slider%20Graphic%20%281%29%20%281%29_81.png"><a href="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/FOS%20Digital_Kate%20Vitasek_Slider%20Graphic%20%281%29%20%281%29_81.png" title="Jean Tirole: The science of taming powerful firms" class="colorbox" rel="gallery-node-1107-XXZA0VEUU70"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/styles/juicebox_medium/public/articles/FOS%20Digital_Kate%20Vitasek_Slider%20Graphic%20%281%29%20%281%29_81.png?itok=E0yJbxgK" width="624" height="325" alt="" title="" /></a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p>Jean Tirole, the French professor of economics who recently received the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economic-sciences/laureates/2014/" target="_blank">Nobel Prize</a>, is one of the most influential modern economists for his extensive theories and rigorous mathematic analysis of strategic behaviour and information economics in what is known as &ldquo;Industrial Organisation&rdquo; (IO).</p> <p>As part of his research, he studied firms and markets where a firm had &ldquo;power&rdquo; to dominate the market and perhaps abuse that power.</p> <p>Tirole&rsquo;s research addresses two key questions: when a firm has market power, how will it behave; and how does its behaviour affect the firm&rsquo;s suppliers, customers, and competitors? Tirole&rsquo;s research, textbooks and mathematical models helps in understanding the science of taming powerful firms through regulation, the effectiveness of incentives and whether legal sanctions are substitutes or complements for social sanctions and norms.</p> <p>Tirole&rsquo;s models are decidedly mathematical in nature, starting with individuals or firms that are assumed to be rational creatures out to maximise their utility and profits. He then usually incorporates the tools of game theory.</p> <p>While you might not find Tirole&rsquo;s deep thinking and mathematical analysis much fun to read if you are a business person, you likely will find his work worthy to consider if you practice the art and science of structuring outsourcing agreements.</p> <p>His findings? There are no standard answers for regulation and competition policy because solutions will vary among different, complex markets.</p> <p><em>Simply put, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to regulation and keeping a firm&rsquo;s power in check.</em></p> <p>For example, the&nbsp;<a href="http://archive.outsourcemag.com/jean-tirole-the-science-of-taming-powerful-firms/www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economic-sciences/laureates/2014/advanced-economicsciences2014.pdf" target="_blank">Nobel Committee on Economic Sciences</a>&nbsp;said Tirole&rsquo;s work shows that cooperation on price-setting within a market is usually harmful, but cooperation regarding patent pools can benefit everyone involved. The merger of a firm and its supplier may lead to more rapid innovation, but it could also distort competition. Thus, a new way of looking at oligopoly markets was needed, because in the final analysis all regulation must be industry-specific.</p> <p>Tirole, in his&nbsp;<em><a href="http://archive.outsourcemag.com/jean-tirole-the-science-of-taming-powerful-firms/classwebs.spea.indiana.edu/kenricha/Oxford/Archives/Courses%202010/Governance%202010/Articles/Tirole.pdf" target="_blank">The Theory of Industrial Organisation</a>,</em>&nbsp;asserts the behaviour of firms is &ldquo;not a simple matter&hellip;there are many ways in which business decision makers may deviate from profit-maximising behaviour and many mechanisms that, in turn, limit managerial discretion.&rdquo; To put it bluntly: sometimes companies are tempted to justify less than ethical practices to maximize their profit. (Note: see Dan Ariely&rsquo;s book,&nbsp;<em>The (Honest) Truth about Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone &mdash; Especially Ourselves</em>, to learn more about how organisations and individuals justify their bad behaviour.)</p> <p>Tirole says there are three ways to view firms. When you begin to understand the various views, you can gain insight and build industry-specific or relationship-specific self-governing mechanisms that can help prevent a firm&rsquo;s temptation to &ldquo;cheat&rdquo; in their effort to maximise profit.</p> <p>The first, the technological view, can be seen as a &ldquo;loophole for the exercise of monopoly power&rdquo; by internalising practices that circumvent legal frameworks.</p> <p>The second, contractual view, sees the firm as a &ldquo;long-run arrangement of its units.&rdquo; This leads to the &ldquo;Williamsonian [Oliver Williamson] theory of the hazards of idiosyncratic exchange in a long-run relationship,&rdquo; especially in the buyer-supplier relationship in which the parties &ldquo;must sink trade-specific investments before trading.&rdquo;</p> <p>The third view, the incomplete-contracting view, also follows Oliver Williamson&rsquo;s research that all complex contracts are incomplete. Tirole notes that &ldquo;contracts are necessarily incomplete, because some contingencies are unforeseeable or because there are too many of them to specify in writing.&rdquo;&nbsp; In this case we must resist the urge to create rigid contractual documents for complex outsourcing relationships and instead seek to &ldquo;define only the broad lines of the relationship.&rdquo; Thus the degree of integration can be roughly measured by the &ldquo;extent to which authority is distributed between contracting authorities.&rdquo;</p> <p>So how can you take Tirole&rsquo;s lessons and apply them in the real world of outsourcing?</p> <p>First, business professionals need to look in the mirror and admit no business agreement is perfect. There simply cannot be a &ldquo;standard template&rdquo; for any complex outsourcing agreement. And if you try cram a complex business relationship into a standard agreement (or regulatory) framework you are likely to fail since by nature businesspeople will tend to become opportunistic and try to &ldquo;win&rdquo; at the expense of their business partner (or when there is a lack of government regulation) if the door is left open.</p> <p>Second, study the University of Tennessee&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vestedway.com/" target="_blank">Vested Outsourcing</a>&nbsp;business model. The Vested methodology starts with the fact that all complex contracts are incomplete &ndash; and that organisations need to create a &ldquo;flexible framework&rdquo; to manage the dynamic nature of business reality.</p> <p>Vested&rsquo;s governance framework helps buyers and suppliers shift from a traditional &ldquo;buy-sell&rdquo; mentality to co-create an outsourcing agreement that is optimal for their specific relationship and business needs. The agreement is designed as a flexible framework, and parties jointly design mechanisms that help keep their interests aligned over time.</p> <p>One of Vested&rsquo;s Five Rules is &ldquo;Insight versus Oversight Governance structure,&rdquo; where the parties design-in self-governing techniques to keep them in alignment &ndash; and prevent them from the temptation of abusing their power. When &ldquo;business happens&rdquo; &ndash; no problem! The party that has the weaker power and will get harmed by the change invokes the self-governing mechanisms that enable the parties to get back in alignment.</p> <p>Think of Vested as a &ldquo;system&rdquo; that keeps itself regulated much the way you set the thermostat in your home. If you craft a good agreement using the Vested model, your relationship will stay in balance just the way your home stays the right temperature.</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/contract-management" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Contract Management</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/economics" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Economics</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/governance" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Governance</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/industrial-organization" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Industrial Organization</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/relationship-management" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Relationship Management</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/vested-outsourcing" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Vested Outsourcing</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-addthis field-type-addthis field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style " addthis:title="Jean Tirole: The science of taming powerful firms - Future of Sourcing" addthis:url="http://futureofsourcing.com/jean-tirole-the-science-of-taming-powerful-firms"><a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_linkedin"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_facebook"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_twitter"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_googleplus"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_pinterest_share"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_reddit"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_email"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_print"></a> </div> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-region field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Region:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/regions/global" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Global</a></div></div></div> Mon, 22 Dec 2014 02:07:46 +0000 Kate Vitasek 1107 at http://futureofsourcing.com http://futureofsourcing.com/jean-tirole-the-science-of-taming-powerful-firms#comments Villena, Revilla, Choi: Breaking down the “bright” and “dark” side of buyer-seller relationships http://futureofsourcing.com/villena-revilla-choi-breaking-down-the-%E2%80%9Cbright%E2%80%9D-and-%E2%80%9Cdark%E2%80%9D-side-of-buyer-seller-relationships <div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/FOS%20Digital_Kate%20Vitasek_Slider%20Graphic%20%281%29%20%281%29_84.png"><a href="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/FOS%20Digital_Kate%20Vitasek_Slider%20Graphic%20%281%29%20%281%29_84.png" title="Villena, Revilla, Choi: Breaking down the “bright” and “dark” side of buyer-seller relationships" class="colorbox" rel="gallery-node-1111-XXZA0VEUU70"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/styles/juicebox_medium/public/articles/FOS%20Digital_Kate%20Vitasek_Slider%20Graphic%20%281%29%20%281%29_84.png?itok=yzlAVtsN" width="624" height="325" alt="" title="" /></a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p>If you&rsquo;ve been in the outsource industry for more than five minutes you probably know that buyer-seller relationships are, well, complicated. And just when you think you have the collaboration thing nailed, more complications can ensue.</p> <p>Verónica H. Villena (assistant professor of supply chain, Pennsylvania State University), Elena Revilla (professor of operations, Instituto de Empresa Business School), and Thomas Y. Choi (professor of supply chain management at Arizona State University), in a 2010&nbsp;<em>Journal of Operations Management</em>&nbsp;article, found that there&rsquo;s both a bright and a dark side to highly collaborative relationships.</p> <p>First: I want to say kudos to the trio for their work to define the term &ldquo;social capital.&rdquo;&nbsp; They define social capital as a value asset stemming from access to resources made available through social relationships across three dimensions: cognitive (e.g., shared culture and goals), relational (e.g., trust, friendship, respect, and reciprocity), and structural (e.g., social ties). Villena, Revilla and Choi show that each of these social capital components have the power to positively influence performance outcomes.</p> <p>Their findings show:</p> <ul style="list-style-type:square;"> <li>The strength of social relations (relational capital) has a higher marginal effect on performance than the frequency and diversity of contacts (structural capital)</li> <li>A shared vision (cognitive capital) has a positive linear relationship with performance.</li> </ul> <p>Our work at the University of Tennessee &ndash; while taking a completely different approach &ndash; aligns nicely with Villena, Revilla and Choi&rsquo;s findings, because the Vested methodology seeks to embed these three aspects of social capital in the physical architecture of an agreement with the conscious goal to improve performance. For example, &ldquo;cognitive capital&rdquo; via a shared vision and &ldquo;relational capital&rdquo; via a formally agreed statement of intent to define social expected norms and trust building behaviors is embedded in a Vested agreement by creating a formal shared vision/statement of intent up front in the contract. &ldquo;Structural capital&rdquo; is also built into an agreement with Vested&rsquo;s Element #7, the relationship management component of governance.</p> <p>Now let&rsquo;s turn the &ldquo;dark&rdquo; side of highly collaborative relationships. It&rsquo;s this part of their work that I find very interesting because it is so different from my work. Their findings uncover a &ldquo;paradox&rdquo; surrounding social capital: &ldquo;it can improve performance, but it can also hurt performance.&rdquo;&nbsp; Villena, Revilla and Choi&rsquo;s results confirmed there is &ldquo;an inverted curvilinear relationship between social capital and performance.&rdquo; Or in other words a rise, then a gentle fall. They also state that buyers should expect that when they are working with a collaborative supplier to achieve operational benefits they will reach the point of diminishing returns faster than when they are pursuing strategic benefits.</p> <p>Villena, Revilla and Choi&rsquo;s research points out that organisations moving to highly collaborative relationships may see diminishing returns in three ways: loss of objectivity, opportunistic behaviours, and poor or clouded decision-making.</p> <p>The question is how can a buying firm can best prepare for the dark side?&nbsp; Let&rsquo;s address each one.</p> <p>First: opportunistic behaviour. I love the work Nobel Laureate Oliver Williamson has done around understanding how to prevent opportunistic behavior in contracting.&nbsp; Williamson&rsquo;s advice is to seek economic mutual advantage, predicted alignment, and proper safeguards that have the power to prevent opportunisms. In other words: create win-win economics where both parties win together and lose together that encourage continued cooperative behaviours. (For more advice and tips, download the Vested white paper, &ldquo;<a href="http://www.vestedway.com/vested-library/" target="_blank">Unpacking Oliver- Ten Lessons to Improve Collaborative Outsourcing</a>&rdquo;.)</p> <p>Next: loss of objectively and poor or cloudy decision-making. These issues can be addressed within a proper governance structure.&nbsp; Consciously building a governance structure that is based on insight, versus oversight, and putting in sound structural components and processes will prevent the loss of objectivity and poor decision-making.</p> <p>Again, kudos for Villena, Revilla and Choi for helping draw attention to the bright and dark sides of highly collaborative relationships. My tip?&nbsp; Don&rsquo;t collaborate simply for the sake of collaboration; collaborate with a purpose by creating well-structured Vested agreements where the buyer and supplier are truly Vested in each other&rsquo;s success. Having a properly structured outsourcing agreement is your best defense for preventing the &ldquo;dark&rdquo; side of collaboration. And it is what has kept many of McDonald&rsquo;s supplier relationships strong for decades, the P&amp;G/Jones Lang LaSalle relationship going for 11 years, and the Microsoft/Accenture OneFinance going for eight years.</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/collaboration" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Collaboration</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/governance" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Governance</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/performance" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Performance</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/relational-capital" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Relational Capital</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/relationship-management" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Relationship Management</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/social-capital" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Social Capital</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/supply-chain" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Supply Chain</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-addthis field-type-addthis field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style " addthis:title="Villena, Revilla, Choi: Breaking down the &amp;ldquo;bright&amp;rdquo; and &amp;ldquo;dark&amp;rdquo; side of buyer-seller relationships - Future of Sourcing" addthis:url="http://futureofsourcing.com/villena-revilla-choi-breaking-down-the-%E2%80%9Cbright%E2%80%9D-and-%E2%80%9Cdark%E2%80%9D-side-of-buyer-seller-relationships"><a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_linkedin"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_facebook"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_twitter"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_googleplus"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_pinterest_share"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_reddit"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_email"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_print"></a> </div> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-region field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Region:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/regions/global" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Global</a></div></div></div> Wed, 07 May 2014 10:26:38 +0000 Kate Vitasek 1111 at http://futureofsourcing.com http://futureofsourcing.com/villena-revilla-choi-breaking-down-the-%E2%80%9Cbright%E2%80%9D-and-%E2%80%9Cdark%E2%80%9D-side-of-buyer-seller-relationships#comments