Together we stand strong
Let’s start with a positive
Collaboration with experts is a must for all companies, especially SMEs. When collaborating you are stronger. You can lean on the expertise, facilities and network of others. Collaboration isn’t always easy and it requires specific skills and attitude.
Strategic collaboration frequently fails.
Did you know that strategic business collaboration is often NOT successful? It often fails to meet expectations and some collaborations simply don’t start at all. Causes for failure of collaborations include:
- Revenue fails to materialize,
- strategic reorientation of partners,
- lack of clarity about the division of tasks,
- disagreement over investments and distribution of risks,
- collisions between cultures and/or individuals,
- disagreement over the distribution of revenues,
- disagreement over intellectual property.
Obstacles in (chain) collaboration
The research bureau Praetimus, commissioned by the Brabant Development Agency, conducted a study on chain cooperation in Brabants industry. The study shows that companies – both OEMs and suppliers – see opportunities for further collaboration (outsourcing of development, engineering and life cycle management). In practice, however, it appears that these ‘proponents’ experience a large number of obstacles in taking advantage of these opportunities. Problems appear mainly in the area of:
- Lack of (joint) business and revenue model.
- Lack of D&E knowledge among suppliers.
- Lack of orchestrating skills and routines.
