When Dell originally selected FedEx, in 2005, to handle all aspects of its hardware return-and-repair process, the companies drew up a traditional supplier contract. The 100-page-plus document was filled with “supplier shall” statements that detailed FedEx’s obligations and outlined dozens of metrics for how Dell would measure success. For nearly a decade, FedEx met all its contractual obligations—but neither party was happy in the relationship. Dell felt that FedEx was not proactive in driving continuous improvement and innovative solutions; FedEx was frustrated by onerous requirements that wasted resources and forced it to operate within a restrictive statement of work. Dell’s attempts to lower costs, including bidding out the work three times during the eight-year relationship, ate into FedEx’s profits.
See the original blog -
https://hbr.org/2019/09/a-new-approach-to-contracts?fbclid=IwAR1xOuR3qiDmbvDdwZLQ2BausCrv3Iy97cbSq5Vy65VHGOM2KnyMjw9IgwI
