'Today's successful businesses rely on globalisation for their prosperity. The complex physical and virtual supply chain networks that support globalisation require proactive engagement, shared understanding, outcome-based thinking and collaborative working. This is an insightful book that unpacks the dynamics of effective enterprise relationship management and provides the reader with the tools, techniques and procedures needed to optimise twenty-first-century supply chains.' Air Vice Marshal Graham Howard, Assistant Chief of Defence Staff (Logistics Operations) 'Customers no longer demand a product or a service; they want outcomes - the fusion of different offerings - to satisfy them. Companies which are great at producing one or just a few of the things that make up these outcomes are faced with a stark choice: either develop all that is required often at eye-watering cost and risk, or partner with other organisations. The latter is increasingly the right answer but provides new challenges which demand focused attention. Enterprise Relationship Management offers some invaluable insights into this challenging space and I commend the book to you.' Matt Wiles, Managing Director, Serco Defence 'As an entrepreneur who has started several businesses, most of which were centred on partnerships, I can highly recommend Enterprise Relationship Management as a real "tour de force" of this topic.
It is clear that the authors have distilled their deep knowledge and many years' experience into this book. It covers all you need to know of this increasingly important and often neglected corner of the modern business world. I particularly enjoyed Chapters 3 and 4 on cultural influences and found the section on reporting very helpful. Figure 6.9 is typical of the very useful graphics throughout the book and deals with the key question make, collaborate or buy?; increasingly the answer is collaborate and this book is the perfect guide to effi.