Partnering with the Frenemy: A Framework for Managing Business Relationships, Minimizing Conflict, and Achieving Partnership Success

Introduction

There’s something remarkably attractive and winsome in relationships that work. The partnership efforts of two firms working together have been described by some as a good marriage. Everyone who knows and sees them together senses that the relationship works. They are like a well-oiled machine, understanding each partner’s point of view and predicting the other’s responses to changing circumstances and events. They have a common future, similar values, and compatible sensibilities. Where one falls short, another steps in. They leave people, groups, and places that they have touched better off than when they first met.

When AT&T partnered with the Williams Formula One (F1) motor racing team, it did more than just provide secure connectivity ...