business relationship management veryard projects > business relationship management

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Scope of Business Relationship Management veryard projects > business relationship management > scope

Principles of Business Relationship Management veryard projects > business relationship management > principles

	Many business organizations and systems are trying to be more responsive to the demands of customers, suppliers, regulators and other partners.
	Business strategy is increasingly focused on building and maintaining alliances and networks.
	Good business relationships are required to support those processes and programmes that cross organizational boundaries.
	And in return, business processes should be designed to support and enhance business relationships.
	Systems and infrastructure should provide flexible capability to dynamically support business relationships.

Elements of Business Relationship Management veryard projects > business relationship management > elements

	Business relationships both demand and foster trust. Trust (or trustworthiness) itself has several aspects. The ability to make credible commitments. An expectation that commitments will be honoured, even in the absence of an external enforcement mechanism. (Although it may be theoretically possible to take legal action against the other party, this often involves too much cost and delay to be a practical option.) An expectation of honourable behaviour in unforeseen circumstances. (In other words, you behave as you would have agreed to behave, if these circumstances had been foreseen.) Not taking advantage of the bad luck of others.  And for that matter, not taking advantage of one's own bad luck either. (In other words, using one's own misfortune or disorganization as an excuse for reneging on commitments.)
	Each business relationship may involve exchanges of uncertainty and risk.
	Each business relationship may involve exchanges of knowledge. Does this relationship give us access to useful knowledge? Are we actually making use of this knowledge? Does this relationship give our business partner access to useful knowledge? Is the partner actually making use of this knowledge? How do we benefit from this? Is it worth establishing new channels of knowledge sharing with existing customers or suppliers? Is it worth establishing peer-to-peer channels of knowledge sharing between customers? (For example, a customer forum or user group.)
	Each business relationship may affect our structural coupling, and therefore the identity of our organization.

Dynamics of Business Relationships veryard projects > business relationship management > dynamics

There are two ways that this pattern can manifest itself. Some companies may themselves attempt to control the transition of relationships with its customers, from promiscuous to steady. In other situations, the pattern may be effected by brokers and intermediaries, creating a steady hub for a set of promiscuous suppliers. The idea behind this is that the customer prefers to deal with a large reliable intermediary or brand, whether storefront or portal, rather than constantly building transitory relationships with one-off suppliers of information and services.

Traditional Business Relationships veryard projects > business relationship management > tradition

For example, if you eat in a self-service restaurant, you pay before you eat. If you eat in a fancy restaurant, you pay after you eat. If the food is bad, you can demand a replacement, or refuse to pay. Otherwise, if you refuse to pay, the restaurant can take your address or call the police. These conventions are pretty well understood by most people.

Similarly, if you open a bank account, you know pretty well what the deal is. You probably have to sign something with a lot of small print.  Many people don't bother to read the small print -- and this is because they know (or think they know) approximately what the small print says. (Of course, there may be some nasty detail in the small print -- but that's part of the tradition as well.)

Once you move away from this basis of tradition, convention and assumption, there can be no "small print" at all. You just have to read every clause of the agreement, because otherwise you simply don't know what the deal is.

Of course, a lot of non-traditional relationships are set up without proper consideration or negotiation, and this causes a lot of problems when things subsequently don't go to plan. This is like a couple living together without getting marrried. Traditional marriage provides a standard set of assumptions, which helps the couple (and their friends and attourneys) deal with problems in the relationship in a standardized way. Unmarried couples are often very unclear which of the attributes of marriage they accept. (But for that matter, many married couples are also unclear or ambivalent about some of the attributes of the traditional marriage.)

At one extreme, there are people and organizations who demand watertight agreements before they undertake anything new or risky. At the other extreme, there are people and organizations who undertake ambitious ventures and life-changing partnerships with remarkably little forethought.

Alliances veryard projects > business relationship management > alliances

• Antelope Projects -- relationship risk management, supplier management, trust
• Boxer & Co -- business strategy
• Managing Change -- customer relationship management
• Peak Perspectives -- strategic relationship management
• Target Business Improvement -- business excellence, joined-up government

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