1 / 21

Establishing Strategic Collaborations with US Business Partners

Establishing Strategic Collaborations with US Business Partners. Marc D. Coles Ohio-Israel Agricultural Initiative Presented at AgroMashov January 13, 2010. Shrinking Core, Expanding Periphery *.

idonovan
Télécharger la présentation

Establishing Strategic Collaborations with US Business Partners

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Establishing Strategic Collaborations with US Business Partners Marc D. Coles Ohio-Israel Agricultural Initiative Presented at AgroMashov January 13, 2010

  2. Shrinking Core, Expanding Periphery* To reduce costs, companies must focus on what they do best and push other activities outside of their core business processes Companies access capabilities through their strategicrelationships with other firms – this network is greater than the sum of its parts *Prof. Ranjay Gulati, Kellogg School of Management

  3. Core Business Process • A process that generates a competitive advantage • Core process ≠ critical process • By definition, core process is critical, but a critical process is not necessarily core to the business • Increased outsourcing of critical functions

  4. Know Your Sandbox . . . • In order to determine your core business and strategy, you must know your sandbox • To do so, companies need to clearly define: • Target customers • Value Proposition • Place in the market

  5. Relationship Focus • Companies are increasingly relying on building and maintaining their network of strategic relationships: • Employees –“partners”, health care benefits, stock options • Customers – in the “people” business • Suppliers – long-term relationships with carefully selected suppliers who are not always the least expensive • Alliance Partners – licensing, joint ventures, M&A “An alliance is a marriage, not a one-night stand.” Vincent Lo, Chairman & CEO, Shui On Group

  6. Strategic Collaborations • Relationships between firms that involve significant amounts of shared information and decision making • May involve equity ownership (economic integration) • Organizational coordination mechanisms

  7. Motivation for Strategic Collaborations • Risk-reward sharing • Market entry or extension • Sharing technological and innovative activities • Response to regulatory constraints Most valuable when synergies exist between partner firms

  8. Synergy • “1+1 = 3” • “Whole is greater than sum of the parts” • Synergy between companies exists if something can make their joint inputs cheaper (cost synergies) or their joint outputs more valuable (revenue synergies)

  9. A Key Element: Trust • Initially based on: • Reputation • Interactions during negotiations • CEOs relationship

  10. A Key Element: Trust • Subsequently: • Tested in repeated interactions • Matched with performance outcomes

  11. A Key Element: Trust • When things get rough: • Inter-company trust goes first • Interpersonal trust keeps relationship alive “You never build a relationship between your organization and a company . . . You build it between individuals.” John Browne, CEO of BP

  12. Why Collaborations Fail • Environment • Failure to anticipate the changing conditions in tastes, technology, economy • Failure to consider differences in national culture, institutions, government regulations • Changes in legal and economic environment

  13. Why Collaborations Fail • Strategy • Poor partner selection • Changed partner goals and strategy • Achievement of partner’s strategic goals

  14. Why Collaborations Fail • Structure • Form of collaboration does not match purpose • Unbalanced control • Lack of flexibility in contract • Unclear goals

  15. Why Collaborations Fail • Behavior • Organizational or national cultures mismatched • Failure to adapt and adjust to changing circumstances • Poor implementation • Lack of top visible management commitment • Poor systems for information sharing • Lack of trust between companies

  16. Cultural Differences • Generally accepted that there are differences in US and Israeli business practices • Neither US nor Israel are uniform – differences between East and West coasts • Business practices in Israel are generally less formal than US – political, ethnic and male/female jokes are not appropriate

  17. Cultural Differences • In a “David and Goliath” relationship, you may want to adapt to other party’s culture • Israelis may view Americans as overly polite, hypocritical, or unduly diplomatic • Americans may see Israelis as too aggressive, confrontational and annoyingly persistent

  18. Marketing to US • Technological advantages do not mean a better product • Focus on solutions to real problems • Improved technology is not a value proposition • Consumers do not care about the underlying technology of a product

  19. Marketing to US • Product development teams need clear and highly defined problems to solve • Product developers should not assume customer demand based on their own limited experience • Products should be engineered for a carefully identified group of customers

  20. Marketing to US • The clearer your marketing strategy, the more effective will be your collaborative partner selection and interaction

  21. Thank You marc.coles@gmail.com

More Related