Forging Ethical Partnerships With Third-Party Vendors

Relationships are the foundations of businesses, partnerships, and contracts

Relationships are the foundations of businesses, partnerships, and contracts

EMS is no different.
You can’t do it alone.
 Relationships are the foundations of businesses, partnerships, and contracts

What does an ethical relationship with a vendor look like?

TRUS HONESTY FLEXIBILIT FAIRNESS

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What other words help you to define ethical business relationships?
How do you prepare to solicit a new vendor partner?

• Understand what is at stake in the purchase

• Get references – use your network
• Educate yourself
• Ask the hard questions

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How do you establish these kinds of relationships? It starts with you.

• Walk the Walk – be transparent and ethical yourself

• Be clear about your values and identify values you share with the potential partner
• Communicate honestly and straightforwardly

What situations have you been in where you clearly maintained your standards – even
when others may not have held themselves to the same standards?
What are the standards for ethical business relationships?
Legal standards
• Local laws
• Department or agency guidelines

Usage of gifts, favors, discounts

• When are they OK and when are they not OK?
• Direct vs. Indirect Benefits

Donations, scholarships, job offers, obligations

• Who benefits?
• Do they directly support your community or constituency?

Quid pro Quo arrangements

Appropriate behavior
• Respectful
• Observes boundaries
• Do not assume camaraderie or fellowship before it is established
• Trust your feelings – if it feels wrong, STOP
A prospective vendor tells an off-color joke
in an attempt to establish a friendly relationship.

 How do you react if you are in private with only that vendor?
 How do you react if you are in a group?
 How do you react if you are offended?
What are the qualities of ethical partner relationships?

• Each party takes responsibility for their part in upholding a partnership

• Each takes others' interests into consideration when making decisions
• Ethical leaders make the right decisions – not necessarily the easy ones
• Each party wants the other to succeed and develops a “win-win’ approach to negotiation

Can you recall a situation in which you knew the other party was doing the “right”
thing and it made you think differently about your own approach?
• Look for vendors who are consistently trying to improve their products or services.
• Do they ask you for feedback?
• Do they incorporate your suggestions?
• Do they keep up with trends and changes in the industry?
• Do they put information into your hands before you even know that you need it?

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How do you assess a potential partner’s commitment to ethical behavior?

• Advantages of one-on-one conversations, face time, being “in the room”

• Sometimes you must trust your gut - if it doesn't feel right, it probably isn't
• You may need to bring in others for support - watch the body language
• Does responsiveness continue to be consistent after the "Honeymoon Phase?"

Have you ever been in a situation where you knew something was fishy?
How did you know?
What did you do?
How does an ethical partner behave when something goes wrong?

• Issues are brought to your attention immediately – no shoving it under the rug

• You want a partner who really listens when you bring up a problem

• You want follow-up with explanations when an issue arises

Has a business partner ever identified a problem of which you were not aware?
What did you do?
Hands-on experience with a product is the best way to evaluate it.
Get those who will use it to test it.

• Boots-on-the-ground approach
• “Show me” also works outside of Missouri

Have you ever had to live with a purchasing decision that was poorly researched,
done in haste, or purchased sight unseen?
• They manipulate to get things that benefit them but are not in the organization’s best interest.

• They frequently deliver work that is late, incomplete, or satisfies only the minimum quality standards.

• They have little or no commitment to growing the organization or themselves.

• They reject reasonable feedback from others trying to help them improve.

• They have trouble sustaining long-term alliances and collaborative relationships.

• They deny or avoid problems or issues.

• They value “impression management” over genuine quality and transparency.

• They don’t easily form trusting relationships.

• They don’t invest in mentoring and developing others.

• They make questionable judgments repeatedly, even after coaching.

• They don’t respect the contributions of others on the team.

• They throw others “under the bus” to advance their own agenda.

Shady Characters
Forging Ethical Partnerships With Third-Party Vendors