BY ART VAN BODEGRAVEN AND
KENNETH B. ACKERMAN
basictraining
The Age of Aquarius or the
Era of Collaboration
WE ARE HEARING SNATCHES OF CONVERSATION THAT
sound like the days of peace and love may be with us once again.
Be assured that neither of us will be publicly disrobing à la
Broadway’s 1968 hit musical “Hair” in the interest of making a
statement one way or another. And there are signs of something
less than the magic of Woodstock in the air, as well.
As for what all this means for buyers of supply chain services
and providers of the same, after a few years of beating one
another’s brains out, two strategic courses have emerged.
Perhaps only one is forward looking and strategic, and the other
is facing the past and, at best, tactical.
During the recent Great Recession, entirely too many buyers of services (in logistics
and in many other areas as well) succumbed
to the temptation to squeeze suppliers on
price, terms, and anything else that might be
squeezed. “Temptation” may be too gentle a
term. For some, it was job-saving to satisfy
the imperatives issued by senior management. For others, a genuine concern for
enterprise survival led to letting suppliers of
goods and services bear more than their fair
share of the pain.
Whatever the core impetus, the damage
wrought on business relationships was significant and had the potential to produce lasting effects. Today,
a distressing number of the squeezees are poised to seize the
opportunity to become the squeezers.
Even some large and respected service providers are raising
rates and prices (and reducing capacity). Reducing supply in the
face of rising demand is a classic technique in what we laughingly call “revenue enhancement.” Some of the capacity, especially in transportation, is, in fact, gone—sold, junked, placed in
faraway markets. Some has been, while not mothballed in a military sense, placed in reserve to be made available at a later date
(as demand pressures mount) at a very handsome price.
Others are trying to reinvent how they do business as a competitive differentiator. They tout collaboration as the key to genuine 21st century business relationships, and they are clearly
looking at the long view—sustainable practices and processes,
and the development of long-term customer relationships in an
evolved business model.
ISN’T COLLABORATION BAD?
Not since World War II and Nazi takeovers of
nations the Germans were in the process of
invading, had occupied, or simply wished to
influence from afar. These “collaborators”
were called “quislings” after Norway’s Vidkun
Quisling, who pioneered and perfected the
process of decay from within. He had counterparts, perhaps 20 organizations in 10 other
countries. But the term of opprobrium was
misapplied—“traitor” is more accurate.
Collaboration is actually
a set of processes in which
two or more entities work
together for the benefit of
all participants, and perhaps also the benefit of
other parties, communities,
How important is this thing we call “
collaboration”? Is it just another buzzword designed
to attract the attention of the trade press?
DSC’s Ann Drake has declared that we have
entered the Era of Collaboration. Mark your
calendars with the year 2011 as the beginning
of this era. We believe that Drake is correct. It
is not a fad; it is the new way we do business in
the supply chain world.
AND RELATIONSHIPS?
While some talk about collaboration, without
necessarily understanding what is really
involved, others invoke the wondrous powers
of relationships (which are, in fact, terribly
important throughout business in this new
