Negotiating Partnerships: Increase profits and reduce risks

Management visions – employees’ daily diet

The chief buyer in a large motor company is a visionary, who speaks of strategies for partnership buying. He states that he fully subscribes to the notion that partnership is advantageous. Reality for his supplier is completely different than the one outlined by the chief buyer in his strategy document. Many suppliers have tales to tell about the ever-harsher negotiation climate, growing risks, demands for bigger investments in combination with declining profits. Their perception is that they are exposed to combat rather than an invitation to join a partnership. The balance of power between the two parties is sometimes so biased that the party in whose favour the balance has tipped feels entitled to ...