When you build good relationships with others in your industry, you all stand to gain more

When your business inhabits a specialized niche within an industry, your success often hinges on your ability to align with partners that can help you reach a broader market, better serve your customers and explore opportunities for economies of scale.
CHOC Children’s, for example, has forged valuable relationships with UC Irvine Medical Center and St. Joseph Hoag Health.
We also worked with Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo to create a satellite children’s hospital within their adult hospital, bringing our services closer to South County families. The right strategic alliance results in a team that’s greater than the sum of its parts. A mismatch, however, can be a disaster for both parties.
So what are the signs of a promising partnership?
Cool analytics
A critical evaluation through a strategic planning process, including an internal and external environmental scan, will reveal your customers’ needs, both historically and in the future.
In our case, we look at vertical partnership opportunities; if we don’t provide a particular service in the continuum of pediatric care, we need to align with someone who does. We also look at horizontal partnership opportunities that enable us to provide better quality services and lift each other to higher levels of performance.
Enveloped by culture
When evaluating attributes, just as critical as the strategic analysis is cultural fit.
The partnership will come together faster and more naturally if organizations have similar or complementary missions. Shared core values cannot be underestimated, and those values are defined at the executive level, with supporting behaviors demonstrated daily so that they will cascade through the organization.
These behaviors cannot be forced, nor mandated. Because they are inspired by our most deeply held values, they are second nature. Similarly, a better partnership will develop if the respective leaders are driven by the greater good for their customers, employees and community — not ego.
As a CEO, I am naturally competitive; but for me, victory comes in the form of providing a better place to receive pediatric care, a better place to work and the ability to contribute to advancing pediatric medicine.
Challenges
Even the best partnerships — newly formed or well established — benefit from tune-ups.
I always look inside first, and ask our leadership if we can do a better job of maximizing the benefits of the partnership throughout the organization. Disagreements should be faced honestly and transparently, as in any valued relationship. If the relationship is strategically important enough to maintain despite suboptimal results, you may need to accept it for what it is and explore new partnerships that fill gaps in your business model.
And then the process begins once again … ●