Partnerships

True partnerships must be built on cooperation, trust, and extraordinary levels of communication. Focus on gaining win-win agreements and don’t allow greed to kill a good relationship.

Anyone who goes to EPCOT at Walt Disney World can experience partnerships in action. The World of Energy, partnered with Exxon; Test Track, partnered with General Motors; the partnerships with the many countries around the world -- the list goes on and on.
But as successful as Disney has been with its partnerships, the company fell into a trap that kills many organizations. That trap is greed. In 1985 Disney owned only 14% of the hotel space in Walt Disney World during the time when EuroDisney was being planned. The remaining 86% of the hotel rooms were operated in partnerships with other hotel chains. When Disney opened EuroDisney (now Disneyland Paris), the company did not partner with any European hotels. Disney wanted it all. As a result, the Walt Disney Company made some very costly, strategic mistakes that may have been avoided with the proper partnerships.

Developing partnerships or strategic alliances is not just for the Fortune 500 large multi-national organizations. PriceWaterhouseCoopers studied 436 immerging companies, and after conducting extensive interviews with the CEOs, they determined that 43% of the companies established long-term strategic alliances with suppliers and customers. These organizations grew 31% faster, introduced 79% more new products and recouped their investment 20% faster.

Take a lesson from Disney: be committed to your partnerships for the long-term.