• Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Supplier Directory
  • SCB YouTube
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Logout
  • My Profile
  • LOGISTICS
    • Air Cargo
    • All Logistics
    • Express/Small Shipments
    • Facility Location Planning
    • Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage
    • Global Gateways
    • Global Logistics
    • Last Mile Delivery
    • Logistics Outsourcing
    • LTL/Truckload Services
    • Ocean Transportation
    • Rail & Intermodal
    • Reverse Logistics
    • Service Parts Management
    • Transportation & Distribution
  • TECHNOLOGY
    • All Technology
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud & On-Demand Systems
    • Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)
    • ERP & Enterprise Systems
    • Forecasting & Demand Planning
    • Global Trade Management
    • Inventory Planning/ Optimization
    • Product Lifecycle Management
    • Sales & Operations Planning
    • SC Finance & Revenue Management
    • SC Planning & Optimization
    • Sourcing/Procurement/SRM
    • Supply Chain Visibility
    • Transportation Management
  • GENERAL SCM
    • Business Strategy Alignment
    • Education & Professional Development
    • Global Supply Chain Management
    • Global Trade & Economics
    • HR & Labor Management
    • Quality & Metrics
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • SC Security & Risk Mgmt
    • Supply Chains in Crisis
    • Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility
  • WAREHOUSING
    • All Warehouse Services
    • Conveyors & Sortation
    • Lift Trucks & AGVs
    • Order Fulfillment
    • Packaging
    • RFID, Barcode, Mobility & Voice
    • Robotics
    • Warehouse Management Systems
  • INDUSTRIES
    • Aerospace & Defense
    • Apparel
    • Automotive
    • Chemicals & Energy
    • Consumer Packaged Goods
    • E-Commerce/Omni-Channel
    • Food & Beverage
    • Healthcare
    • High-Tech/Electronics
    • Industrial Manufacturing
    • Pharmaceutical/Biotech
    • Retail
  • THINK TANK
  • WEBINARS
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Webinar Library
  • PODCASTS
  • VIDEOS
  • WHITEPAPERS
Home » Learning by Doing: Innovation in Teaching Contracting Skills

Learning by Doing: Innovation in Teaching Contracting Skills

Learning by Doing: Innovation in Teaching Contracting Skills
February 6, 2019
Kate Vitasek, SupplyChainBrain Contributor

Traditional approaches to negotiating and contracting are to learn and then do, often accompanied by role-playing. Innovative educational approaches are allowing companies to make the shift from role-playing to “real-playing,” where buyer and supplier teams create strategic Vested outsourcing agreements through real-time “learning-by-doing.”

The result? Take a class and the contract is your homework. 

The University of Tennessee (UT) began studying complex outsourcing deals in 2003 as part of a research project funded by the United States Air Force. Researchers took their learnings and developed what they coined “Vested Outsourcing” — a methodology and business model for creating highly collaborative win-win outsourcing deals. When the first book on Vested came out in 2010 — Vested Outsourcing: Five Rules That Will Transform Outsourcing — the response was strong. People loved the theory of Vested, but how do companies turn theory into practice?

The challenge was that negotiating and contracting skills have been pretty much taught the same way for decades. Take a seminar or course and do role playing to learn the skills. Then take the learnings back to the office and apply the skill in real life on your own. UT researchers knew if they were going to get traction, they would have to come up with a practical way to help teach companies the theory and practice of creating a Vested agreement.

How does it work? A buyer and supplier team (typically executive level professionals doing the deal, such as commercial managers, account and sales executives, or procurement professionals) first take an online or on-site course to get the basics of the why and what of Vested outsourcing. They then take the online Creating a Vested Agreement course where they learn the how and the why: their homework becomes the contract. Gone are the days of role-playing, replaced by UT’s innovative RealPlaying techniques, which couples just-in-time online course resources with a comprehensive toolkit and field-based support from a Vested Center of Excellence that can provide coaching support. 

By integrating the learning-and-doing process, it significantly increases an individual’s ability to successfully apply their learnings in practice. By working through this process, students have gone through an apprenticeship program in the art, science and practice of structuring an outsourcing relationship. Students can then take additional coursework and applied work where they can become a Certified Deal Architect. 

UT’s innovative and practical approaches for bridging the gap between theory and practice are gaining traction. Contract Management magazine calls UT’s approach “innovative” and the Economist Magazine ranked UT’s graduate education #1 in the world for “relevance.” But the real proof is in the pudding when companies like Dell/Genco (FedEx) and Intel/DHL use the program to generate real win-win results — for the buyer and supplier.

The Outlook

Organizations looking for a fresh approach to implement modern, relational contracts need to have the proper tools and resources at hand. This means a shift away from the traditional learn-and-do-later model to one of an integrated learning-by-doing approach. It’s no longer role-playing in how to negotiate; its “real-playing,” where teams come together and learn by doing, using a common framework and a coach to provide real-time, hands-on feedback.

Kate Vitasek is a faculty member at University of Tennessee’s Haslam College of Business Administration.

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED VIDEOS

Education & Professional Development
KEYWORDS Education & Professional Development Supply Chain Analysis & Consulting
  • Related Articles

    Predictions for SCM in 2011 Released by Learning Institute

    Turning Thinking into Doing – Live Innovation

Kate Vitasek, SupplyChainBrain Contributor

The ‘Vested’ Approach: A Better Way to Outsource

More from this author

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter!

Timely, incisive articles delivered directly to your inbox.

Popular Stories

  • A WORKER IN A WAREHOUSE, SUPERIMPOSED WITH GRAPHICS SHOWING SUPPLY NETWORK

    Enabling Intelligent Visibility With Supply Chain Analytics

    Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)
  • A HAND TURNS A LARGE, LIGHTED DIAL WITH THE WORD RISK ON IT iStock-NicoElNino-1364371014.jpg

    Measuring KPIs and KRIs for Comprehensive Supplier Performance Management

    Technology
  • GSCMS-Promo.png

    Watch: Introducing the Global Supply Chain Marketing Summit

    Education & Professional Development
  • A COMPLEX SERIES OF ROADWAYS AND RAMPS, SEEN FROM HIGH ABOVE, IS PARTLY SHROUDED BY CLOUD

    Supply Chain Visibility Isn’t Just a Catchphrase; It’s an Imperative

    Logistics
  • A MAN IN A SUIT SITS LEANING OVER THE BACK OF A CHAIR IN A WOOD-PANELLED ROOM FULL OF LARGE PHOTOS OF OTHER MEN IN SUITS

    UPS Faces Rising Labor Costs, Strike Risk in Upcoming Union Fight

    Last Mile Delivery

Digital Edition

Scb q1 2023 cover

2023 Supply Chain Management Resource Guide: Packing for a Difficult Year

VIEW THE LATEST ISSUE

Case Studies

  • New Revenue for Cloud-Based TMS that Embeds Orderful’s Modern EDI Platform

  • Convenience Store Client Maximizes Profit and Improves Customer Service

  • A Digitally Native Footwear Brand Finds Rapid Fulfillment

  • Expanding Apparel Brand Scales Seamlessly with E-Commerce Technology

  • How a Global LSP Scaled its Security Program and Won More Business

Visit Our Sponsors

Orderful Yang Ming Alithya
Barcoding Blue Yonder BNSF Logistics
CoEnterprise Data Capture Deposco
E2open GAINSystems Generix
Geodis GEP GreyOrange
Here Honeywell Intelligrated IFM
Infor Inmar Keelvar
Kinaxis Korber Lean Solutions Group 2H
Liberty SBF Locus Robotics Logility
LogistiVIEW Lucas Systems MCA Connect
MPO Nvidia Old Dominion
OpenText ORTEC Overhaul
Parsyl PMMI QIMA
Redwood Logistics Ryder E-commerce by Whiplash Saddle Creek Logistics
Schneider Dedicated Setlog Holding AG Ship4WD
Shipwell Tecsys TGW Systems
Thomson Reuters Tive Trailer Bridge
Vecna Robotics Verity
Verusen
  • More From SCB
    • Featured Content
    • Video Library
    • Think Tank Blog
    • SupplyChainBrain Podcast
    • Whitepapers
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
  • Digital Offerings
    • Digital Issue
    • Subscribe
    • Manage Your Subscription
    • Newsletters
  • Resources
    • Events Calendar
    • SCB's Great Supply Chain Partners
    • Supplier Directory
    • Case Study Showcase
    • Supply Chain Innovation Awards
    • 100 Great Partners Form
  • SCB Corporate
    • Advertise on SCB.COM
    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
    • Data Sharing Opt-Out

All content copyright ©2023 Keller International Publishing Corp All rights reserved. No reproduction, transmission or display is permitted without the written permissions of Keller International Publishing Corp

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing