Building High Performance Business Relationships

How can managers determine which types of partnerships will provide the best pay-offs? This book presents a partnership model which provides a structured and repeatable process to effectively and efficiently build and maintain tailored business relationships that may become an asset for executives looking for competitive advantage.

A practical guide for building and maintaining high performance business relationships Every business sinks or swims on the quality of its relationships and alliances, whether they are between management and staff, departments, subsidiaries, partners, suppliers, or customers. It's no wonder then that building and maintaining high performance relationships has emerged as one of the hottest topics in today's hypercompetitive, global business environment. This indispensable guide will help you to understand what high performance relationships are and how they work. Written by a distinguished pioneer in the field, it explains what a high performance business culture populated by a fully engaged workforce looks like. It describes simple, proven strategies and techniques for implementing and sustaining high performance relationships, both internally, within your organizations, and externally. And, it details the many benefits that await business organizations of any size that place greater emphasis on relationship performance management. Offers simple and effective methods for building successful business and organizational relationships Concise and easy to read, this book provides a common language and practice for high performance relationship management and critical change management Arms you with an array of tested-in-the-trenches tools for building robust and sustainable high performance business relationships

A guide to using positive organizational change to do more with less, from the acclaimed author of The Southwest Airlines Way. Whether from customers, supply-chain partners, policymakers, or regulators, organizations in virtually every industry are facing calls to do more with less. They are feeling compelled to provide higher-quality outcomes, more rapidly, at a lower cost. This book offers a road-tested approach for delivering these outcomes through positive organizational change. Its message comes just in time—for too many companies have gone the way of low-road strategies, such as cutting pay and perks, and working harder not smarter. Drawing on her pathbreaking research, Jody Hoffer Gittell reveals that high performance is fundamentally relational—rooted in both human and social capital. Based on this insight, she provides a unique model that will help companies build meaningful relationships among colleagues, develop smarter work processes, and design organizational structures fit for today’s pressure test. By following four organizations on their change journeys, she illustrates how “relational coordination” unfolds in real-world settings. In addition, tools for change guide readers as they learn how to implement this new model in their own workplaces.

The managed flow of goods and information from raw material to final sale also known as a "supply chain" affects everythingâ€"from the U.S. gross domestic product to where you can buy your jeans. The nature of a company's supply chain has a significant effect on its success or failureâ€"as in the success of Dell Computer's make-to-order system and the failure of General Motor's vertical integration during the 1998 United Auto Workers strike. Supply Chain Integration looks at this crucial component of business at a time when product design, manufacture, and delivery are changing radically and globally. This book explores the benefits of continuously improving the relationship between the firm, its suppliers, and its customers to ensure the highest added value. This book identifies the state-of-the-art developments that contribute to the success of vertical tiers of suppliers and relates these developments to the capabilities that small and medium-sized manufacturers must have to be viable participants in this system. Strategies for attaining these capabilities through manufacturing extension centers and other technical assistance providers at the national, state, and local level are suggested. This book identifies action steps for small and medium-sized manufacturersâ€"the "seed corn" of business start-up and developmentâ€"to improve supply chain management. The book examines supply chain models from consultant firms, universities, manufacturers, and associations. Topics include the roles of suppliers and other supply chain participants, the rise of outsourcing, the importance of information management, the natural tension between buyer and seller, sources of assistance to small and medium-sized firms, and a host of other issues. Supply Chain Integration will be of interest to industry policymakers, economists, researchers, business leaders, and forward-thinking executives.

Everyone knows that relationships are critical to business success, but no-one has provided a simple system to turn contacts and acquaintances into valuable assets -- until now. The first systematic program for advancing business relationships. In five easy-to-follow steps, the book shows how to transform any casual business relationship into a valuable source for revenue, leads, and advice. Ed Wallace combines memorable anecdotes with a clear theoretical framework that shows individuals how to leverage their hard business skills with the often-overlooked soft skills of rela-tionship building. Surveyed executives say they need this book. In a recent survey, 88 percent of executives indicated that the strength of their client, cus-tomer, and referral relationships was critical to achieving their goals each year. But only 25 percent of those same executives said they had a formal process for planning, managing, and growing business relation-ships and 73 percent of the group surveyed said they would be very interested in reading a book on this topic. This book delivers the process that so many people and organisations need.

A unique insight into corporate team building within a global giant. Lessons from Mars challenges the prevailing orthodoxy of corporate team building and offers an alternative framework along with a set of tools and techniques. Based on the author's 20-plus years of experience working with teams and six years of research specifically on Mars teams, the book offers a unique view into this closely-held private company and how it has unlocked the power of collaboration. '...it turns out that while women are from Venus, valuable lessons in corporate management are from Mars, Inc.' Roy Sekoff, Founding Editor, The Huffington Post

The notion of sustainability continues to increase in importance for businesses. Today consumers pay attention to the environmental impacts and social consequences of the products they use. Consequently, an increase in interest in the topic from an industry perspective has been observed and the topic is considered a megatrend in today’s global economy worthy of additional academic inquiry. This dissertation looks into the role that sustainability plays for companies in the current business environment and its effect on supply chain relationships. This book highlights the effects that introducing sustainability to a supply chain relationship has on the dynamics and structure of these relationships and provides a novel methodological approach to examine the issue. For the analysis, a theoretical framework of current management theories is assembled and the insights of each theory for sustainability in supply chain management are detailed. Through a qualitative and a quantitative research phase, the findings of this dissertation show, that sustainability and collaborative behavior in supply chain relationships positively affect each other. This manuscript provides insights for both research and practice. Theoretical and managerial implications are detailed and the findings are mirrored with the derived theoretical framework. This book therefore helps to promote the effective implementation of sustainability in supply chain management practice and elaborates the theory around the topic.

In today’s competitive, globalized marketplace, the provision of services and products is a result of teamwork between several organizations. Relationships between organizations of any size are strategically important. If your supplier falls down at a crucial moment, it can have survival implications for your company or for other members of your supply chain. The management of these strategic assets cannot be left to chance and the same attention that you devote to finance, operations, HR, etc. must be applied to business relationships. Despite this, very few organizations focus on this or are even aware that they need to do it. Those that do are unsure how to do it. This is not helped by business schools that focus on either customer relationship management (CRM) or supplier relationship management (SRM) rather than collaboration between partners (Enterprise Relationship Management). This book is a unique "go-to" guide for all managers who should be looking at collaboration with other organizations as a new way to attain outstanding results that would not be achieved on their own. Currently, there is nothing else of this nature on the market. The book identifies relationship management as a pivotal management function. It presents a comprehensive, flexible, end-to-end management process that can be easily incorporated into the existing management structures. Further, they describe the crucial role of the relationship manager who is at the heart of the system and provides the drive to achieve high performance. Any company can tailor this discipline to the needs of its organization – whether an SME or a multi-national company selecting a new partner or managing existing relationships. This book covers the decision of whether or not to partner and with whom, the creation of an appropriate system of governance, the transition to operations, managing performance for continuous improvement, and, finally, controlled wind-up of the partnership. Throughout, diagrams to signpost the sequence of activities, checklists of important actions, and job-related worksheets are provided. In addition, there are numerous case studies in a variety of industries and public sectors that will be used as illustrations. Altogether these make this book ideally suitable for experienced managers as well as for training and induction purposes. Essentially, Implementing and Managing Collaborative Relationships: A Practical Guide for Managers shows managers how they can create and operate a simple and effective system of Enterprise Relationship Management that will enable them to maximize efficiency, resilience, innovation, and profitability.

How a new generation of outlaw salespeople are rewriting the rules Outlaw is a guide to what really works in the sales environment. Packed with fresh on-the-ground insights, powerful true stories, bold strategies, and unconventional approaches to selling, it explains how the best salespeople defy the conventional wisdom to achieve stunning success. But it's not just for salespeople. Since we all sell something in one form or another—even ideas—Outlaw is the sales guide for the salesperson in each of us. Outlaw explains that the world's best salespeople don't just sell; they fight for a worthy cause. They don't just pitch the customer; instead, they reframe the customer's and the market's expectations, delivering unique experiences that build value and inspire satisfaction, loyalty, and repeat business. In Outlaw, author and sales expert Trent Leyshan uses straightforward explanations and inspiring case studies to reveal the tools, traits, and skills used by the world’s most dynamic and successful sales professionals. Includes effective sales practices for salespeople, as well as account managers, business leaders, consultants, marketers, advertisers, and entrepreneurs Features proven techniques for overcoming personal limitations, understanding what customers want, and becoming a more passionate, inspiring sales professional Written by a sales expert and trainer whose clients include many of Australia's most successful sales-driven firms Perfect for anyone who works in sales or wants new ways to influence colleagues and customers, Outlaw offers effective strategies and a fresh approach to selling that really works.