partnering

The events of late 2001 sent a tsunami over the collective psyche and economy in the United States and around the world. The most noticeable impact of this shock wave is that many people feel psychologically uncertain about the future. They are searching for dependability and reliability for their futures. Everyone wants and needs to feel a sense of trust about the stability of the people around them and the institutions for which they work. For many, the twin threats of terrorism and economic downturn have resulted in paralyzing fear and formless anxiety.

Few business leaders today would debate the importance of partnering for practical and strategic advantage. Yet understanding the value of partnerships is a far cry from successfully developing and sustaining these crucial alliances. In "Partnering Intelligence: Creating Value for Your Business by Building Strong Alliances" organizational consultant Stephen M. Dent shows how to develop the power of partnerships in any organization and take the lead in 21st century business.

The new economy is opening borders and boundaries, enabling and requiring more interaction and information exchange among people and organizations. Such interaction requires organizations to develop effective partnerships and partnering competencies.

In the first article in this series, Your Board: Dynamic, Difficult or Detrimental, boards are described from the CEO perspective as either adding value, preventing the organization from optimizing opportunities or in some cases, just tiresome in their dealings. One way boards develop the difficult or detrimental characterization is created by how the board views and fulfills its role. By role we mean the big picture contribution or “fit” with the organization as a whole. In using the term role, we do not mean responsibilities, such as ensuring a succession process. The board’s responsibilities (what boards do) will be the topic of the next article.

Considerable intellectual work has been done in the area of “business integration,” which views the business enterprise as a holistic entity comprised of many parts. (Anderson consulting for one). When the connections and relationships among these parts are aligned and properly integrated, the idea is that the benefit to the organization is more than the sum of its parts.

Mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and strategic alliances will continue to multiply and drive the economy in an open environment. Optimizing these organizational relationships demands that companies develop a collective partnership capability and capacity.