Editor’s Note: To what extent has procurement evolved beyond the concept that to win, one must get the better of their suppliers?
How many people equate success with conquest?
In other words, believe that we live in a dog-eat-dog world in which, while maybe not the only way, the best way to get ahead, is at bettering someone else.
I thought about this perspective recently, when I read an article discussing how the purchasing profession is trying to move away from the adversarial mindset that dominates how they negotiate with their suppliers.
References were made to the continuing proliferation and popularity of negotiating courses, which proclaim that one does not get what they deserve, but what they can negotiate.
The suggestion is obvious – when one negotiates there is a winner and a loser. To be a winner means that you must acquire the skills that enable you to get the better of someone else.
But is this really the way to win?
A Pyrrhic Victory
In a seminar, Kate Vitasek talked…
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Procurement Insights 
Posted on March 23, 2015
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