SCORE! A Better Way to Do Busine$$: Moving from Conflict to Collaboration

Chapter 8. Collaboration Doesn’t Mean “Soft”

The advantages of collaborative relationships over the more common negative command and control types of business should be clear to you by this point. Working closer to the entire extended enterprise of a firm is not a new approach, yet it has not been as widely adopted as it should be. Executives continue to view this approach as very controversial, which is one reason it hasn’t gained wide acceptance. Resistance to adopting collaboration is usually centered on the commonly held misconception that using collaborative techniques is somehow a softer and less demanding approach than traditional means. This chapter outlines why that is incorrect and shows how collaboration can work successfully, even ...