Sales versus Purchasing - The PICOS Battleground

The last, but certainly not least, of hues values is "Offerings, not Products".
Sometimes, I jokingly refer to this value as "Selling Sucks" - sometimes, it's not a joke.

To be fair to salespeople, though, there are also times when purchasing sucks.
Last night, I attended a short seminar on the PICOS (Program for the Improvement and Cost Optimization of Suppliers) program. This program was developed at GM. It has since spread to other industries.

PICOS is disguised as a 'six-sigma' or 'lean' approach to collaboration between vendors and customers for mutual cost reduction.
In reality, it's a program in deception. PICOS bares no resemblance to true collaboration and mutual benefit, like you would see and experience in Japan. I participated in many of these collaborations, and they feel nothing like PICOS

Here is a summary of the PICOS Method.
There are a number of points in this paper that show the antagonism present in the negotiation, from the purchasing side.

• "Be prepared indirectly and under pressure to bluff and lie."
• "Destabilize each supplier's people with many urgent meetings and many demands for information."
• "Set new deadlines for suppliers to meet but defer decisions to increase their anxiety."
• "Offer exaggerated growth and future order quantities as bonuses."
• "Know your potential winning suppliers and their competitors inside and out before you begin to negotiate and play first and second tier suppliers against each other."

The underlying message here is to decide which vendor is best and then beat them up as much as possible or create the worst relationship with the best vendor.

I worked with a couple customers who used PICOS or PICOS-like programs, and I can tell you two things.

1. If your customer is beating you up, they've already decided to buy you. Hold your ground, if you know you are the best alternative.
2. Karma is a bitch. Anyone who refuses to acknowledge the golden rule (in work or life) will eventually pay the piper. And it's fun to watch.