This British Standard specifies requirements for the effective identification, development and management of collaborative business relationships between discrete organizations. It is applicable to organizations of all sizes from large multinational corporations to micro/small businesses.
The application of this British Standard has to be tailored to the size of the organizations involved.
Application of and/or compliance with this British Standard can be on several different levels, for example:
a single application (including operating unit, operating division, single project or programme, mergers and acquisitions);
an individual relationship (including one-to-one relationships, alliance, partnership, joint venture);
multiple identified relationships (including multiple partner alliances, consortia, joint ventures, networks, and end-to-end supply chains);
full application companywide for all identified relationship types.
The adoption of collaborative working complements and enhances the operation of existing business activities to provide an improved relationship that adds value to the parties involved. It can provide a more effective way of working and help to build a more strategic environment that opens the way to create increased performance. The deployment of collaborative approaches does not deflect from any requirements to maintain open and free competition.
The adoption of a collaborative relationship standard is also intended to complement and enhance existing contracting processes. Collaborative approaches are expected to be able to operate in unison with either legislative and regulatory requirements or policies, whether corporate or governmental, aimed at ensuring open and free competition, such as the European Procurement Directives [1 and 2].
This British Standard does not cover business-to-consumer relationships or employer–employee relationships.
The eight-stage framework specified in this British Standard reflects the overall life cycle of a collaborative relationship to assist organizations to assess and develop their own particular approach to collaborative business relationships. These are reflected in the three distinct phases of development, Strategic, Engagement and Management, as shown in Figure 2. It is recognized that in some cases, organizations might not through their specific operating practices execute programmes strictly in accordance with the order of the elements included but would overall address all aspects as appropriate to their business requirements. The key eight stages are as follows.
Stage 1 (Awareness). Clause 3 addresses the overall strategic corporate policy and processes which lead towards incorporating collaborative working as a recognized approach where it can identify added value.
Stage 2 (Knowledge). Clause 4 focuses on the development of knowledge against a specifically identified opportunity to create a business case and benefits analysis.
Stage 3 (Internal assessment). Clause 5 is intended to ensure that organizations undertake a structured assessment of their capability and maturity to successfully engage in a collaborative initiative.
Stage 4 (Partner selection). Clause 6 addresses the need to undertake a structured approached to the identification, evaluation and selection of appropriate partners.
Stage 5 (Working together). Clause 7 focuses on ensuring that the partners establish the appropriate operational structure, governance, roles and responsibilities to effectively achieve desired business objectives.
Stage 6 (Value creation). Clause 8 is specifically focused on the need to establish approaches that seek to build value out of the joint relationship.
Stage 7 (Staying together). Clause 9 addresses the need to ensure effective measurement and monitoring of the relationship to maintain its optimum performance.
Stage 8 (Exit strategy). Clause 10 addresses the need to develop and maintain an effective strategy for disengagement where appropriate.
Whilst these stages are shown as a linear set of activities, it is recognized that in many cases this will be a series of iterative processes in the light of information obtained, the assessment of it and lessons learned, both inside each individual phase and between phases. For example, during the Strategic phase, aspects relating to the decisions on who to collaborate with, and why, are likely to be re-assessed and modified. In the Engagement phase, information arising during the process will influence which partners to work with, and could modify or change the arrangements for or contents of the relationship between the parties. During the lifetime of the Management phase, changes arising internal to the business or between the parties, or from external factors, will often impact on the outcomes and processes. In addition, the experiences gained from the set‑up and running of collaborative business relationships are likely to be fed through to their overall strategy and future direction.
It is also probable that, in some cases, existing relationships might start from differing points in the process. It is recommended that in these cases, organizations should address the earlier stages to establish a firm platform before moving forward. It should also be recognized that after evaluation of the potential benefits and challenges, some relationships might not warrant the investment required for following the collaborative working process, such as purely transactional activities.