Kate Vitasek is an internationally recognized innovator in the practice of supply chain management and outsourcing and is the lead researcher in the award-winning concept of Vested Outsourcing based on research with the University of Tennessee. Vitasek is co-author of two must-read books based on the concept: Vested Outsourcing: Five Rules That Will Transform Outsourcing and Vested Outsourcing Manual: A Guide for Creating Successful Business and Outsourcing Agreements.
Vitasek’s approaches and insights have been widely published with more than 200 articles in respected academic and trade journals, including the Journal of Business Logistics, Supply Chain Management Review, Inside Supply Management, Forbes, Chief Executive Magazine and Aviation Week. She is also a columnist for Outsourcing Magazine and Procurement Leaders Magazine.
With Vested Outsourcing, Vitasek has ignited a new business model that will improve outsourcing procedures much like the way Six Sigma and Lean improved production processes in the 1980s and ’90s. Based on a research study with the University of Tennessee and the United States Air Force, Vitasek has identified ten structural flaws inherent in conventional outsourced business models and shows organizations how to rethink their outsourcing relationships in a way that will lower costs, improve service and increase innovation.
The University of Tennessee was awarded the Supply Chain Council’s Academic Advancement Award for their work, and World Trade Magazine named Kate Vitasek and the Vested Outsourcing concept on the “Top 50+1″ list of people and ideas that are changing the way businesses conduct business.
As faculty member at the University of Tennessee’s Center for Executive Education, Vitasek teaches executive development courses and serves as a mentor to students. She also teaches seminars for the Warehouse Education Research Council and the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals and has served as a guest lecturer at dozens of universities.
Vitasek’s storied career includes consulting with Microsoft and other billion-dollar companies. She was recognized as “Woman on the Move in Trade and Transportation” for her leadership in the profession and was honored as “Woman of International Influence” by Global Executive Women. She has served on the board of directors for the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals and has been called a “rainmaker” for her tireless effort in educating the supply chain profession.
