Susan Helper, professor of economics, has published research in the Journal of Operations, Management on a new approach to sourcing decisions that promotes attention to value.
Helper and her co-authors introduce the new approach, “total value contribution” or TVC, as a way to address the disconnect that sourcing decisions and minimizing costs can create. The TVC approach “builds on insights from the literature on individual and group decision-making to offset human biases and organizational incentives that emphasize cost reduction.” In addition, TVC builds on gains already achieved by “total cost of ownership” (TCO) sourcing methods, which broadened the list of factors considered in sourcing.
Helper and team believe that widespread implementation of TVC would improve both organizational and social outcomes.