Vested: How P&G, McDonald's, and Microsoft are Redefining Winning in Business Relationships

by Kate Vitasek, Karl Manrodt, Jeanne Kling

Working with partners is the future of business. In this timely and original work, Vitasek and Mandrodt show companies, through a series of high-profile global examples, how to create a vested agreement that brings success and create a better future for everyone involved.

Genres: Business

222 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 18, 2012

About the author

Kate Vitasek an international authority on how to build and sustain highly collaborative relationships. She received the Thinkers50 Breakthrough Idea Award in 2025 and is lauded by World Trade Magazine as one of the “Fabulous 50+1” most influential people impacting global commerce. She has been featured on CNN International, Bloomberg, NPR, Fox Business News, and Forbes.
Vitasek is a Distinguished Fellow and Graduate & Executive Education Faculty at the University of Tennessee’s Haslam College of Business. Her award-winning research on the Vested® business model has been adopted by over 150 organization such such as bp, Intel, EY and the Canadian government for its ability to create true win-win business relationships.
Vitasek is the author of nine books and over 400 articles in publications including Harvard Business Review, Chief Executive Magazine, The Economist, FAST Company, Information Week, CIO Magazine, World Financial Review and Supply Chain Management Review.
She is in both the Sourcing Industry Group and the International Association of Outsourcing Professional’s “Hall of Fame,” and is a World Commerce and Contracting “Fellow.” Prior to making the shift to academia, Vitasek held positions on all sides of the business table: the buy side (Microsoft), the sell-side (Stream International and Modus Media) and the consulting side (Accenture).

Reviews

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now a classic in the business world, Vested describes 5 rules that govern the win-win relationships Vitasek and Manrodt espouse in connecting companies and their suppliers. They have ample evidence that treated your suppliers like trusted allies rather than sponges to be squeezed dry leads to better outcomes.

[Andy Lopata · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Vested, Vitasek provides a strong argument for why collaboration is so important for business and where we fall down, coupling it with a clear and practical system to help nurture positive and mutually beneficial professional relationships.