Tim CookAnalytical perspectiveTC-P02PRODUCT ADVISORY COUNCIL
Design partnerships around capabilities
Tim CookAnalytical perspectiveTC-P02The method
Design partnerships around capabilities
Assess internal and partner strengths separately, retain responsibility for product quality and delivery, then combine external capabilities.
When to use it
- Choosing whether to build, buy, outsource or partner when demand and scale may fluctuate.
Ask yourself
- Which capability must remain ours, and where is the partner stronger?
- Who can diagnose and correct a quality or supply failure?
Put it into action
- List capabilities, quality acceptance criteria, responsible owners and replacement costs.
- Test interfaces, demand variation and failure recovery on a small scale before making larger commitments.
Keep these limits in mind
- Adapted from a third-party biography’s account of mixed outsourcing, not a complete operating manual written by Cook.
- Cost and flexibility must not conceal labor rights, supplier concentration or switching risks; applying hardware experience to software requires new validation.