basictraining
age and have always been so).
Let’s get it straight, though.
“Relationships” in general are not
nearly the same as business relationships. Collaboration cannot be
successfully conducted
outside of deep and
genuine business relationships. And collaborations and relationships are not different
words for the same
things.
Good relationships
are the lubricant of everyday functioning, in commerce and in society
at large. In many, perhaps most,
cases, that bears not at all on the
issue at hand. We should always say
“please” and “thank you” in interactions of all sorts. We remember, and
treasure, and return to individuals
(and organizations) that create a
positive aura and go an extra step
for us—in all spheres of contact.
There are all kinds of relationships in business that are both useful and important. Corporate relationships with employees can help
bolster those employees in their
relationships with customers. A value-adding
relationship with customers can foster profitable sales, rather than
relying on low-price-driven commoditized
transactions (the
model that was already
fading toward the end of the last
century).
These personality-based individually directed efforts, even when an
outgrowth of corporate culture, are
necessary in the construct of business relationships—a good thing.
But business relationships are the
foundation for many forms of
strategic corporate interactions.
They are important at all levels,
whether non-mission-critical commodities
are involved or sophisticated strategic competitive differentiators are at stake. All key
relationships need to be framed in the context of what form of structured interaction
is appropriate under the circumstances.
Those that are collaborations are but one
form, albeit the most complex and the most
strategic, of the spectrum of how enterprises relate with their suppliers, customers,
and service providers.
SUMMING UP
So, now we know that things such as limited data sharing, occasional advance
warnings of plans, communications of
demand levels, getting together to solve a
problem when one occurs, or planning for
the next quarter, while all good things, are
not collaboration.
We’ve also learned that relationships and
collaborations are not synonymous but are
vital to each other for achieving the highest
level of mutual benefit among supply chain
partners.
The course you select depends on many
things, including a level of enlightenment,
for those with a bias for Zen. The quality of
existing supplier partners, and their
emotional and intellectual readiness, counts for
a lot.
Books have been, and are being, written
on relationships, collaboration, and the
development of positive environments in
business affairs. Taking each as gospel could
be confusing. It is not easy to cherry-pick
the useful parts of superficially different
sets of recommended concepts and
processes.
But if you can subscribe to the conclusion that we have entered the Era of
Collaboration, the direction—or redirec-tion—seems clear. It will be a bigger leap
for some than for others. We suspect that
those who don’t jump will be pushed, and
that’s not a good way to get from the cliff’s
edge to the open water. ;
Art van Bodegraven, practice leader at S4 Consulting, may
be reached at (614) 336-0346 or avan@columbus.rr.com.
You can read his blog at http://blogs.dcvelocity.com/
the_art_of_art/. Kenneth B. Ackerman, president of The
Ackerman Company, can be reached at (614) 488-3165 or
ken@warehousing-forum.com.
