Programme overview
Technical depth: Practitioner · Practical mode: Case study
Introduction
Organisations increasingly rely on alliances, consortia and cross-sector partnerships to reach markets, share risk and deliver sustainability commitments they cannot meet alone. Many of these partnerships start with a signed memorandum and strong intentions, then drift because value, governance and accountability were never agreed. This Core Concept course equips managers to select partners, structure agreements and govern relationships using recognised collaboration standards and partnering frameworks. Participants work through cases from several sectors and leave with a Strategic Partnership Plan for a live or planned partnership in their own organisation.
Course Objectives
- Assess where a partnership adds strategic value compared with building capability internally or buying it
- Apply a structured partnership life cycle from scoping and partner selection through to exit
- Evaluate prospective partners on strategic fit, capability and responsible business conduct
- Design governance structures, agreements and joint KPIs that keep all partners accountable
- Diagnose declining partnership health and resolve disputes before they damage the relationship
- Produce a Strategic Partnership Plan ready for executive approval
Target Audience
- Partnership, alliance and business development managers
- Sustainability and corporate social responsibility managers running multi-stakeholder programmes
- Programme managers delivering projects through consortia or joint ventures
- Public sector managers responsible for public-private and cross-sector partnerships
- Managers of non-profit and development organisations working with corporate and government partners
Course Outline
Day 1: The Strategic Partnership Landscape
- Partnership Typology: Alliances, Joint Ventures, Consortia and Cross-Sector Partnerships
- Partnership Value Creation Types in the SDG Partnership Guidebook
- SDG 17 and Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships for Sustainability Goals
- Make, Buy or Ally Decision Analysis
- Partnership Portfolio Review Using a Strategic Fit and Performance Grid
Day 2: Collaboration Standards and Partnership Frameworks
- ISO 44001 Collaborative Business Relationship Management: The Eight-Stage Life Cycle
- ISO 44001 Amendment 1 Climate Action Considerations in Collaborative Relationships
- The Partnering Cycle: Scoping, Building, Managing, Reviewing and Sustaining
- ISO 26000 Social Responsibility Principles for Partner Alignment
- Partnership Governance Models: Steering Committee, Joint Venture Board and Secretariat
Day 3: Forming and Managing the Partnership
- Partner Selection Scorecard with Weighted Evaluation Criteria
- Responsible Business Conduct Due Diligence Using OECD Guidance
- Memorandum of Understanding and Partnership Agreement Key Clauses
- Joint Value Proposition and Mutual Benefits Map
- Relationship Management Plan: Roles, Interfaces and Communication Cadence
Day 4: Partnership Risk, Health and Performance
- Partnership Risk Register: Strategic, Operational, Reputational and ESG Risks
- Partnership Health Check and Trust Diagnostic Survey
- Conflict Escalation Ladder and Interest-Based Dispute Resolution
- Joint KPI Scorecard and Impact Measurement Using a Theory of Change
- Exit Strategy, Renewal and Disengagement Planning
Day 5: Case Work and the Strategic Partnership Plan
- Renewable Energy Consortium Case Study: Aligning Partners with Divergent Objectives
- Corporate and Non-Profit Community Programme Case Study: Reviving a Stalled Partnership
- Public-Private Infrastructure Partnership Case Study: Governance and Accountability Review
- Strategic Partnership Plan Drafting: Value Case, Governance, KPIs and Exit Provisions
- Peer Challenge Panel and Plan Defence
Skills You Will Gain
- Partnership Strategy
- Partner Due Diligence
- Collaborative Relationship Management
- Partnership Governance Design
- Partnership Agreement Structuring
- Partnership Performance Measurement
- Dispute Resolution
- Multi-Stakeholder Engagement
Why Attend This Course
- Leave with a Strategic Partnership Plan for a real partnership, tested against peer challenge
- Spot the early signs that a partnership is losing value and know which intervention to use
- Negotiate agreements and governance arrangements that partners will actually follow
- Compare partnering practice with managers from companies, public bodies and non-profits across several countries
Conclusion
Partnerships create value only when partners agree what each contributes, how decisions are made and how success will be measured. This course moves from the strategic case for partnering, through the collaboration standards and partnering frameworks, to selecting partners, structuring agreements and managing risk, health and disputes. The final day brings that material together in a Strategic Partnership Plan that participants take back to their organisation, giving them a disciplined approach to building partnerships that deliver commercial and sustainability results.