Relationships case study

We pioneered our relationships offering nearly 20 years ago when a leading consumer goods company asked us to help resolve a conflict with their outsourcing partner. Two major transformation programmes were late, over budget and struggling with business buy-in. Both sides were blaming each other and many people in both organizations thought there was no hope left.

In a surprisingly short time, we managed to understand the true root causes of the conflicts. We used those insights to convince both sides to de-escalate and put in place new principles and ways of working that would allow them to resolve their current challenges and fortify the partnership going forward. It took some time, but the two organizations were able to get their programs back to operational and financial health, and they continued to work together for many years after that to transform their business.

What were some of the unique contributions we made that led to success?

We started with the human dimension.

While there were many things wrong between the partners, ranging from processes to technology to contracts, our belief was that the most fundamental misalignment was in the partnership itself – in the cultural understanding and social capital between the organizations. We knew that if we could pinpoint where that had misfired, we could start to rebuild positive intent and even trust.

We created custom methodologies.

We used insights and approaches from literature, philosophy and the social sciences to understand the components and dynamics of good vs. bad partnerships, and devised tailored measurement methodologies to help us understand exactly where the problems were.

We grounded our solutions in reality.

Rearticulating a common vision and restoring the fundamentals of the partnership were massively important. But a lot of other things needed to happen in parallel to make these changes be accepted and sustained. We worked with both parties to embed new ways of working at all levels of their partnership, across all key geographies. We held both partners to account to uphold their commitments, from the highest levels on downwards. And we rolled up our sleeves and helped the two companies resolve some of their most contentious financial and operational issues through a series of mediated workshops.

Results we've seen:

  • Rescued & stabilized transformation programs worth over $2bn
  • Realigned over 1000 staff members globally across the two multinational partner organizations
  • Created a blueprint for how to run transformational partnerships that was used for at least 10 years afterwards
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