Building Alliances and Networks

The story so far…

“Once upon a time, there was a kingdom called “Company”, whose King named CEO had three princes. They were named Prince Aggression, Prince Clever and Prince Agile .Each of them expected to be the future king and hence were always playing the game of oneupmanship. The king was deeply worried about the fate of his kingdom because of this mutual distrust among his sons. One day the old king called his three sons and said, “Dear sons, as you know our kingdom does not have any resources left to sustain itself any longer and we need to attack kingdom “Market”…. “

The threat of an imminent war meant it was the time for alliances. Despite Kingdom “Global giant” having presence in most parts, it still has to depend heavily on kingdom “Outsourcing” for support. Kingdom “Global giant” knew that without having kingdom “Outsourcing” by it’s side , the war against kingdom “company” would be an uphill task to accomplish.

The growth of kingdom “outsourcing” had been meteoric.It’s biggest strength lay in it’s huge army who were willing to relocate even to the most adverse conditions. It has benefited both. Kingdom “Global giant” was able to increase its influence far and wide and kingdom “Outsourcing” was able to bring in prosperity for its people.

Unlike most other kingdoms. “Outsourcing” was ruled by a triumvirate- King “BPO”, King “IT” and King “Manufacturing”. Together and with the help of smart thinking & strategic alliances, they have brought Kingdom “Outsourcing” one of the highest growth rates in the world. But they were now not content with it. They aspired to be treated at par with other Kingdoms like “Global giant”, “Cold state” and “One state”. In order to achieve this goal they started their own special force called “E-guy” or “Entrepreneur”. The people in this special force were of an unique kind. They were always buzzing with new innovative ideas, most of which were gladly implemented by “Global giant” and were huge success stories and as a result Kingdom “Outsourcing” was now treated with respect and was seen as a major decision maker. Still it was no way close to Kingdom “Global giant” in prowess, and was the junior partner in the alliance but with a high growth rate.

Bottom-line: If you want to be treated seriously, move up the value chain. If the work you do is very basic, sooner or later someone will overtake you. Think innovative and build your brand !

Kingdom “Outsourcing” owing to it’s geographical proximity to kingdom “Market” (now ruled by kingdom “Company”), was the perfect base for launching an attack and hence its importance in the present scheme of things. However its initial attempts to penetrate kingdom “Market”, have not succeeded owing to huge public support & loyalty the three Princes ( Agile, Aggression and Clever) enjoy because of their benevolent rule. In fact the public have so far refused to give even a small piece of pie from their kingdom “Market”. A fact which has now forced kingdom “Outsourcing” and “Global giant” rethink their strategies.

Bottom-line: If you know your market and deliver what you say, a cheap product won’t be able to eat your market share. Build brand loyalty.

Another rumor doing the rounds – kingdom “Cold state” has offered support to kingdom “Company” who in return will set up a base in “Cold state”, thereby forging closer ties than ever before. Furthermore reports suggest that it was a result of the efforts of none other than councilor “Shared wisdom”. The report appeared in local daily news paper “Market share” and was reported by celebrated journalist “Trend watch”. A report of this nature , if true, will definitely change the dynamics of the looming war. But…

Bottom-line : Build a strong relation with your vendors and suppliers alike, it’s your best bet to survive an onslaught on your market.

Tags: alliance market market share outsourcing tale