Vested: How P&G, McDonald’s, and Microsoft Are Redefining Winning in Business Relationships

What’s the secret of successful companies? In this solid and thought-provoking book, consultant Vitasek (on the faculty at the University of Tennessee’s Center for Executive Education) and performance management expert Manrodt (a professor of management, marketing, and logistics at Georgia Southern University) argue that the answer is the ability to work in a highly strategic manner with business partners—suppliers, customers, stakeholders, or employees. Vitasek and Manrodt offer a systematic methodology to improve outsourcing as a business practice, where companies and their suppliers become “Vested” in each other’s success. Using a variety of business cases—including the replacement of the Minneapolis I-35 bridge (which collapsed in 2007), the 2005 cleanup of the Rocky Flats nuclear production site, Microsoft’s transformation of its back-office procure-to-pay process, and McDonald’s excellent supplier relationships—the authors break down the best practices of winning companies and their strategies for improvement. These strategies break cleanly into five Vested Rules: focus on outcomes, not transactions; focus on the what rather than the how; commit to clearly defined and measurable desired outcomes; institute a pricing model with incentives; and instill insight vs. oversight governance. Though the concept is simple, the rules provide a framework to effectively redefine the reader’s business relationships and way of thinking about the synergy in partnerships. (Sept.)