15.2 Introduction
Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.
—Henry Ford
If you're a sports fan, you probably love watching the Olympics. Even if you aren't a sports fan, you can appreciate that the Olympic Games have become a global celebration of the quest for excellence. The Olympics' motto is a wonderful invitation to all of us: Citius, Altius, Fortius, which is Latin for "Faster, Higher, Stronger." You might even say that the Olympics' motto is a model for the modern purchasing organization where the quest is to help bring products to market "Faster, Better, and Cheaper" than anyone else.
Thinking about the summer Olympics, which sport best models buyer/supplier integration and your role as a purchasing professional? Take a few seconds to consider this! Did you think about Olympic rowing? Let's take a look at why we think rowing is a great metaphor for buyer/supplier integration. To do so, let's focus on the fastest boat on the water—the eight. The team for the eight includes eight rowers and a coxswain (pronounced cox-n). As a team sport, rowing success depends on how well the crew works together. Consider these facts.
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All rowing events at the Olympic games are 2,000 meters.
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The stroke rate (the number of rowing strokes per minute that the crew is executing) is as high as 50 at the start of a race, settles at 40 for the body of the race, and then jumps to 46+ for the final sprint (the last 200 meters).
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Each rower on a high-performing team executes approximately 250 synchronized—and near perfect—strokes by the time the shell (the name of the boat) crosses the finish line.
Like a world-class men's or women's eight, your firms' success depends on its ability to work seamlessly with members of the "team"—that is, your firm's supply base.
Let's take the metaphor further, applying it directly to your role as a purchasing professional. To the casual observer, rowing looks graceful, almost effortless. However, endless hours of preparation precede every successful race (another parallel to buyer/supplier integration). Equally important, world-class eights have great coxswains—the rowing team's on-the-water coach. The coxswain not only steers the boat but also calls the cadence and motivates the rowers. Simply put, the coxswain helps the team execute the "game plan." Now, a question: Who performs the coxswain's role in buyer/supplier integration initiatives? Answer: You do! As a supply professional, you make integration happen, ensuring that all of your suppliers buy-in to the strategy and execute flawlessly.
Let's make one final point. Rowers have been called the world's most physically fit athletes. The Viewer's Guide from US Rowing describes the rower's task as follows:
A 2,000-meter rowing race demands virtually everything a human being can physically bring to an athletic competition—aerobic ability, technical talent, exceptional mental discipline, ability to utilize oxygen efficiently and in huge amounts, balance, pain tolerance, and the ability to continue to work when the body is demanding that you stop1
Similarly, cultivating opportunities to co-create value and executing to strategy demands that you be one of the most professionally fit leaders in your company. Instead of pushing the boundaries of human physiology, your job is to push the boundaries of working relationships. Deep collaboration isn't easy, but it can help your company cross the finish line first. Let's take a closer look.