“Collaboration is the new competition, the new cool. The new normal. At this, you will share both the pains and gains to avoid burnout syndrome…”
I came across this quote by Maymunnah Kadiri, my friend who is a mental health advocate, and I am reminded of some instances at Aspire Coronation Trust (ACT) Foundation, when we would recommend grantee collaboration especially among grantee non-profits that share similar or complementary objectives. A strong reason for this stems from the idea that alone we can go fast, but together we can go further. Also, we have encountered situations of program duplication which, if a shared strategy was adopted would have yielded more in terms of impact maximisation.
Another reason we encourage our grantees to work with their counterparts is the important function of advocacy and policy influence which only a mobilised alliance of non-profit organisations working on shared agenda can possibly wield as a result of their collective resources.
In the business world, collaboration among competitors takes many forms, like product licensing and joint ventures. A good example is the Nigeria Inter-bank Settlement System (NIBSS), a company owned by all licensed banks in Nigeria, sharing a single infrastructure for handling interbank payments. Joint ventures are very popular in the oil and gas sector as well as the health sector. Every now and then we read news of two or more pharmacies working to release new medicine. Rival auto mobile companies General Motors and Toyota have jointly produced vehicles. One time, industry rivals in the technology sector, Samsung and Sony leveraged their individual expertise to create what has been tagged a highly celebrated and successful partnership by jointly producing the liquid-crystal display (LCD) technology. While Samsung had the panels, Sony’s technology ensured that the TV pictures were crisp and of high quality.
Competition in business appears to be the norm. A common reason why this is so is the fight to gain a huge percentage of the market share, enjoy first mover advantages and in the long term generate income and boost profit. However, with the fast pace of technology, changes in consumer behaviour and the day to day new complexities managers are forced to deal with, more and more businesses are depending on mutual partnerships. If they were to tackle these challenges individually, can they independently pull off the resources involved in driving disruptive innovation if that was the case? Where the business environment promotes a “winner takes all” attitude, can managers of competing organisation devise strategies to promote equally beneficial partnerships?
Like the collaboration between Samsung and Sony, most times collaborations between competitors may lead to a major upscale or upgrade for the entire industry especially when they address threatening issues.
Collaboration should be the new cool. If done properly, there are multiple benefits; from access to new markets and resources, shared costs and risks, access to knowledge which can be expressed through additional product lines and of course, a robust bottom line. However, some organisations do not welcome co-options because in all honesty this sort of arrangements do not always end up successful. There is the risk of transfer of competitive advantage or of one party getting the short end of the stick! This is why it is highly necessary to have well defined set objectives when considering embarking on this sort of alliance. Examine your current state as well as that of your prospective rival-partner. What are your strengths and what are your needs? What is your value proposition? What are their strengths and weaknesses? How can they fill the gaps you have identified?
When both parties have agreed to go on with the arrangement, it is imperative to document every and any critical information because in as much as partnerships between competitors can be beneficial, there is only a tiny line between collaboration and competition. Communicate expectations. Protect your organisation. Sign non-disclosure documents. Set boundaries. Share information on a need to know basis. Business to Business(B2B) experts advise that when rival companies pursue a partnership a separate and independent joint venture should be formed. This entity will be responsible for the new business and will only be existent throughout its life.
Partnerships can also happen with the small organisations. Managers in this class can pull resources in order to team up with the others in the same category to compete with or attract the bigger organisations. Through strategic collaborations, non-profits can attract donors and increase their chances of getting the essential support that they need.
Establishments are run by human beings. Not to discount the need for competition because it can be a healthy method of encouraging invention nonetheless, like Kadiri rightly inferred, when we are working under a constant state of competition, tracking our competitors to outrun them we burn out fast!
OSAYI ALILE
