1 Scope

This British Standard specifies requirements for the effective identification, development and management of collaborative business relationships between discrete organizations. It is applicable to organizations of all sizes from large multinational corporations to micro/small businesses.

The application of this British Standard has to be tailored to the size of the organizations involved.

Application of and/or compliance with this British Standard can be on several different levels, for example:

• a single application (including operating unit, operating division, single project or programme, mergers and acquisitions);
• an individual relationship (including one-to-one relationships, alliance, partnership, joint venture);
• multiple identified relationships (including multiple partner alliances, consortia, joint ventures, networks, and end-to-end supply chains);
• full application companywide for all identified relationship types.

The adoption of collaborative working complements and enhances the operation of existing business activities to provide an improved relationship that adds value to the parties involved. It can provide a more effective way of working and help to build a more strategic environment that opens the way to create increased performance. The deployment of collaborative approaches does not deflect from any requirements to maintain open and free competition.

The adoption of a collaborative relationship standard is also intended to complement and enhance existing contracting processes. Collaborative approaches are expected to be able to operate in unison with either legislative and regulatory requirements or policies, whether corporate or governmental, aimed at ensuring open and free competition, such as the European Procurement Directives [1 and 2].

This British Standard does not cover business-to-consumer relationships or employer–employee relationships.

The eight-stage framework specified in this British Standard reflects the overall life cycle of a collaborative relationship to assist organizations to assess and develop their own particular approach to collaborative business relationships. These are reflected in the three distinct phases of development, Strategic, Engagement and Management, as shown in Figure 2. It is recognized that in some cases, organizations might not through their specific operating practices execute programmes strictly in accordance with the order of the elements included but would overall address all aspects as appropriate to their business requirements. The key eight stages are as follows.

• Stage 1 (Awareness). Clause 3 addresses the overall strategic corporate policy and processes which lead towards incorporating collaborative working as a recognized approach where it can identify added value.
• Stage 2 (Knowledge). Clause 4 focuses on the development of knowledge against a specifically identified opportunity to create a business case and benefits analysis.
• Stage 3 (Internal assessment). Clause 5 is intended to ensure that organizations undertake a structured assessment of their capability and maturity to successfully engage in a collaborative initiative.
• Stage 4 (Partner selection). Clause 6 addresses the need to undertake a structured approached to the identification, evaluation and selection of appropriate partners.
• Stage 5 (Working together). Clause 7 focuses on ensuring that the partners establish the appropriate operational structure, governance, roles and responsibilities to effectively achieve desired business objectives.
• Stage 6 (Value creation). Clause 8 is specifically focused on the need to establish approaches that seek to build value out of the joint relationship.
• Stage 7 (Staying together). Clause 9 addresses the need to ensure effective measurement and monitoring of the relationship to maintain its optimum performance.
• Stage 8 (Exit strategy). Clause 10 addresses the need to develop and maintain an effective strategy for disengagement where appropriate.

Figure 2 — Overview of the principal components of successful collaborative business relationships

Strategic	Awareness (Clause 3)	Establish executive responsible and organizational policy	Identify business objectives and value proposition	Identify and prioritize relationships	Establish resources, competencies and behaviours	Undertake initial risk assessment	Relationship Management Plan
	Knowledge (Clause 4)	Develop specific business strategy	Establish knowledge management process	Establish objectives, strategy, business case and identify potential collaborative organizations	Establish initial exit strategy	Incorporate relationship management with risk management processes
	Internal assessment (Clause 5)	Undertake self assessment	Establish collaborative profile	Establish collaborative leadership	Establish partner selection criteria	Establish and implement action plan
Engagement	Partner selection (Clause 6)	Nominate potential partners	Evaluate potential partners	Establish partner selection plans	Create joint objectives and negotiation strategy	Select partner
	Working together (Clause 7)	Establish governance, joint objectives and leadership	Establish organizational structure, roles, responsibilities and processes	Establish performance measurement	Establish joint risk management and exit strategy	Establish contract arrangements
	Value creation (Clause 8)	Establish value creation programme	Define value drivers	Establish improvement team	Establish learning from experience	Implement innovation process
Management	Staying together (Clause 9)	Ongoing management, monitor and measure the relationship	Continual innovation	Maintain behaviours and trust	Manage delivery and performance	Manage issue resolution and monitor joint exit strategy
Management	Exit strategy (Clause 10)	Develop and maintain joint exit strategy	Establish boundaries for the relationship	Monitor and evaluate changes	Manage business continuity and transition	Evaluate future opportunities

Whilst these stages are shown as a linear set of activities, it is recognized that in many cases this will be a series of iterative processes in the light of information obtained, the assessment of it and lessons learned, both inside each individual phase and between phases. For example, during the Strategic phase, aspects relating to the decisions on who to collaborate with, and why, are likely to be re-assessed and modified. In the Engagement phase, information arising during the process will influence which partners to work with, and could modify or change the arrangements for or contents of the relationship between the parties. During the lifetime of the Management phase, changes arising internal to the business or between the parties, or from external factors, will often impact on the outcomes and processes. In addition, the experiences gained from the set-up and running of collaborative business relationships are likely to be fed through to their overall strategy and future direction.

It is also probable that, in some cases, existing relationships might start from differing points in the process. It is recommended that in these cases, organizations should address the earlier stages to establish a firm platform before moving forward. It should also be recognized that after evaluation of the potential benefits and challenges, some relationships might not warrant the investment required for following the collaborative working process, such as purely transactional activities.

BS 11000-1:2010

Collaborative business relationships - A framework specification

Published:

31 Oct 2010

Withdrawn:

31 Mar 2017