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Tricks and Traps of Vendor Panels: Unlock the Dormant Value

The use of vendor panels has been standard practice in business and government for some time; indeed, you probably don’t give it much thought. However, panels are grossly underutilized, despite receiving the highest “very satisfied” score with customers relative to sole sourcing (single suppliers) and head contracting (prime contractors with subcontractors). Explaining the poor utilization of panels is not so simple. There are a myriad of traps that organizations fall into. This Executive Update explains the common traps and provides the tricks to leverage your use of panels.
February 22, 2016 | Authored By: Sara Cullen

The Tricks and Traps of Supplier Relationship Management, Part I

 The only thing you can be sure of when speaking to someone else about SRM is that he or she will think it's something different than what you mean. This leads to our first trap in Part I of this two-part Executive Update series on SRM tricks and traps at the conceptual level. What is the purpose of SRM? Is it to have good relationships? To collect data? To foster innovation?
November 3, 2014 | Authored By: Sara Cullen

The Psychological Contract in Outsourcing: Harnessing the Value

A psychological contract is a construct comprising an indi­vidual’s assumptions and beliefs about what each party to a contract must do and how they are to do it. All individuals in both parties have their own unique psychological versions of that contract, which makes managing expectations quite challenging. In this Update, we explore the topic of harnessing the value of the psychological contract.
December 1, 2015 | Authored By: Sara Cullen

Key Activities of the Outsourcing Lifecycle: Part III

This Executive Report by Dr. Sara Cullen is the third in a four-part series on the outsourcing lifecycle. The series is based on a detailed understanding of the outsourcing experiences of 107 organizations. This report picks up where Part II left off and takes you through the final building block of the Architect Phase (Design) and the two building blocks of the Engage Phase (Select and Negotiate), the first two of four phases in the outsourcing lifecycle. These building blocks will have a crucial effect on how successful your outsourcing initiative will be.
July 31, 2009 | Authored By: Sara Cullen

The Debate Surrounding Offshoring and Its Effect on Employment

Although offshoring has existed in a variety of forms for decades, its controversy continues unabated. The debate includes whether offshoring actually saves money or not, what activities are and are not good candidates for offshoring, and most controversial of all, its effect on employment in the consuming countries. This Executive Report discusses the offshoring phenomena in an historical context, investigates whether offshoring has actually resulted in IT-related job losses, and examines its effect on IT-related occupations in the US and Europe.
July 31, 2010 | Authored By: Sara Cullen, Madina Manap, Alejandro Rosales, Nupur Gupta

Key Activities of the Outsourcing Lifecycle: Part IV

This is the final Executive Report in a four-part series by Dr. Sara Cullen on the outsourcing lifecycle. The series is based on a detailed understanding of the outsourcing experiences of 107 organizations. This report takes you through the last three building blocks focused on transition, management, and the next generation (that is, the next contract). It is during these building blocks that the work done (or not done!) in the earlier part of the lifecycle, discussed in the previous Executive Reports, can hit hard. And even if done well, there are many challenges, as you will see.
October 31, 2009 | Authored By: Sara Cullen
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