This document discusses the importance of personal relationships in effective collaboration. It provides two case studies of companies that expanded into new markets, with one company failing and the other succeeding due to differences in personal relationships. Specifically, it argues that personal relationships foster trust and enable collaboration, as evidenced by examples of faster disaster recovery response from vendors with long-term relationships compared to others without close relationships.

1. The importance of Personal Relationships in Effective CollaborationJohn KeleherIT Manager, Crittall Windows Ltd

2. AgendaCollaborationCase StudiesNorth America v UK Construction MarketCompany 1Company 2Personal Relationships

3. col·lab·o·rate (kə-lāb'ə-rāt') working with enemy — the betrayal of others by working with an enemy, especially an occupying forceworking together — the act of working together with one or more people in order to achieve something

4. CollaborationComing together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success. - Henry Ford

5. Case StudiesNot the whole storyNames withheld to protect the innocentInteresting comparison of the fate of 2 successful companies looking to expand into new markets

6. UK Construction MarketSource: thepeoplebrand.com

7. North American Construction MarketSource: thepeoplebrand.com

8. Company 180 years’ successful tradingFocussed on UK residential marketNo 2 in UKEntered UK Commercial Market

9. Company 2160 years’ successful tradingFocussed on UK Commercial MarketNo 1 in UKRe-entered North American Market

10. OutcomeCompany 1February 2010 entered administrationCompany 2 April 2010 won Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Markets

11. Why are people important?

13. Source: PIECC Project

14. Source: PIECC Project

15. Collaborative IT Project

16. Collaborative IT Project4 developers based inBrisbaneFort LauderdaleBraintreeAberdeen or anywhere in the worldWeb based Collaborative ToolsMost productive period?1 week all 4 spent together working face to face

17. Personal Relationships2002 fire in comms roomAll servers condemnedNo formal disaster recovery agreementBack up and running in 4 daysEmail same dayCAD next dayCommercial systems 4 daysDifferent responses from different vendors

18. ResponsesRadan (CAD)Engineer finished his day’s appointment and arrived Braintree 9 pm. Worked till midnight then again in morning.Centric (Email)Responded immediately (Sunday), visited site & then setup virtual Exchange ServerData General (Main Unix Server)Engineer next morning, spent 3 days locating and setting up a loan serverHPRang us late next day to say our support contract didn’t cover fires, and we would have to place a purchase order before they would send an engineer.

19. Reasons for Great ResponsesRadan15 year relationship, the engineer had worked on original installationCentricNew business but –MBO from our web developers5 year relationship with technical teamData General 20 year relationshipthe engineer had worked on original installation

20. ConclusionCompanies don’t collaborate people collaborateTechnology is a great enabler, but you have to want to collaborate for it to be successfulLong term partnerships enable the development of trust and foster great working relationships