The Dog That Sang Pagliacci

As we appear to emerge from the worst of the Great Recession, I am seeing a little more talk about relationships among supply chain partners, particularly involving shippers and carriers, and companies and their logistics service providers.  Heartening in general, the talk might be just a touch over-optimistic.

That is, calling buyer/seller or provider/customer dealings "relationships" implies a depth of trust and collaboration that may or may not exist.  Regrettably, the relationship terminology gets tarnished when it is applied to transactional commerce.  That, even more regrettably, makes my life more difficult when I try to talk about genuine business relationship building and maintenance as  drivers of success in supply chain performance.

The dog in qustion, btw, has been a disappointment, too.  With high hopes, I named him Enrico Caruso, based on what might have been a fine tenor voice.  Alas, he cannot sing a lick, even to this day.  But, I've got a new pup, and I'm thinking about him as a possible Placido Domingo.