Partnering with external entities like suppliers, customers, and potential competitors can provide benefits for competition. Competition involves rivalry for market share by offering the best combination of price, quality, and service. External partners like suppliers and customers can influence a company's performance but are not under its direct control. Developing deep, mutually beneficial relationships with external partners over the long term through teamwork and sharing risks and rewards can provide commercial advantages. Partnering with suppliers can result in cost savings, value, and operating efficiencies. Partnering with customers involves developing confidence and credibility through a shared journey to create mutual opportunities and avoid risks. Companies like BMW and GE partner externally to harvest innovative ideas and enhance customer satisfaction. Human: Thank you,

1. Partnering for Competition:
External Partnership

2. •Internal Partnering
•Partnering with Suppliers and Customers
•Partnering with Potential Competitors

3. What is competition?
• rivalry for customers or a share of the marketplace
• Rivalry in which every seller tries to get what other sellers are seeking
at the same time: sales, profit, and market share by offering the
best practicable combination of price, quality, and service
(businessdictionary.com)

4. External Partners
• Entities such
as customers, suppliers, partners, government regulators and the
society, which interact with an organization and
may influence its performance, but are not under its direct control
(businessdictionary.com)

5. Partnership Readiness
Customers cause many problems with suppliers:
inadequate specifications
poor planning
sloppy communication
changing requirements
too much dependence

6. Skills needed
Communications
Joint problem-solving and continuous improvement skills
Conflict management
Scope and commitment management

7. External Partnership
• based on providing and sharing reciprocal value
• develop deep, mutually beneficial relationships over the long-term
• the aim is to secure the best possible commercial advantage
• Principle: teamwork is better than combat

8. Supplier Partnership

9. “A commitment over an extended time to work
together to the mutual benefit of both parties, sharing
relevant information and the risks and rewards of the
relationship. These relationships require a clear
understanding of expectations, open communication
and information exchange, mutual trust and a common
direction for the future. “
-- Institute for Supply Management

10. Why partner with suppliers?
• Cost savings
• Value
• Operating efficiencies

11. Types of supplier relationships (Kevin Davis, in his book Slow Down, Sell Faster!)
Approved Vendor
• having an acceptable price and service, and is called upon by the
company for the “sole purpose of acquiring a specific product or
service at a competitive price”
• the company is looking for a transaction-driven solution and will turn
to that vendor who has a good reputation for delivering on time
and on budget

12. Types of supplier relationships (Kevin Davis, in his book Slow Down, Sell Faster!)
Valued Consultant
• provides not only a product or a service, but also exchanges
information and shares knowledge with the company team members
• exhibits forthright interest in helping the company succeed by
offering helpful hints
• “perceived as the ‘go-to’ person”
• understands the company’s business processes and preferences

13. Types of supplier relationships (Kevin Davis, in his book Slow Down, Sell Faster!)
Strategic Partner
• helps a company “see the future faster, and in a new and different
way.”
• continually seeks to add value to every situation [in addition to the products
or services provided by the contract agreement]
• works toward “continuous improvement.”
• helps to mutually develop solutions, knows and understands your
business goals, turns their knowledge into action on your behalf

14. Customer Partnership

15. An extended relationship between buyers
and sellers based on confidence, credibility
and mutual benefit.
-- Council of Supply Chain Management
Professionals

16. Customer-supplier partnership relationships
are an important way to obtain valuable
insights and provide mutual opportunity to
take action and avoid risk

17. Customer Partnership
• shared journey to create a future for both parties that is better than
either could have developed alone
• customer influences every aspect of your business and is the
foundation of your organization's success
• more than "putting customers first", or finding mutually satisfactory
solutions to shared problems, or a dedication to excellence in every
sale or service encounter

18. Why Customer Partnership?
• help your organization maintain the focus you need to make good
decisions and harness the power and commitment you need to
weather volatile times
• represents your firm's "capacity to anticipate what customers need
even before they know they need it"

19. BMW
BMW is constantly seeking to discover new technologies and design
features to put into future cars. To harvest the insights of creative
minds outside the BMW Group, the firm's Virtual Innovation Agency
(VIA) is the point of contact for all external innovators who do not as
yet have contacts within the firm. VIA makes it easy for car fans to
communicate their ideas through its web-site, with additional online
discussions that solicit ideas from enthusiasts around the world.

20. GE
Involve customers, urged Jack Welch. Quality program is aimed at
enhancing satisfaction of your customers. Find out what customers
want. Involve them to participate in your work, to drive it, to "manage
your enterprise."

21. ACTIVITY/QUIZ
• Case study

22. ASSIGNMENT
1. Search for companies with external partners – either online or a
physical store.
2. Describe the two entities.
3. Describe the benefits with their partnership.
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