Discussion: Managing Partnering Agreements

Stock car racing is a very dangerous form of auto racing. The drivers of NASCAR are always in competition, but they often engage in a cooperative strategy called drafting. The idea is for one car to pull in behind another, often only inches apart, taking advantage of aerodynamics to maintain speed with greater fuel efficiency. If only briefly, the two drivers have formed a partnership for that portion of the race.
 
Oddly enough, a similar type of cooperation/competition sometimes is employed in the auto manufacturing industry. For example, in 2002, General Motors and Ford Motor Company cooperated to build a new automatic transmission, designed for transverse engine applications in cars and light trucks (Shuldiner, 2006). The companies agreed to invest $720 million in their manufacturing plants to support the new transmission. Even though they remain fiercely competitive, they each leveraged the others efforts, and in so doing increased their chances of competing against companies like Honda and Toyota.
 
The Ho et al., article notes that in entering partnership agreements, companies need to carefully balance competition and cooperation because many such strategic alliances involve potential sharing of information, knowledge, and technology in ways that cannot be completely controlled. In your research, give consideration to what specific skills are beneficial to HR executives when managing partnering agreements.
 
To prepare for this Discussion,
Review this week’s Learning Resources, especially:

 
 
Assignment:
 
Respond to two your colleagues’ postings in one or more of the following ways:

  • Ask a probing question.
  • Share an insight from having read your colleagues’ postings.
  • Offer and support an opinion.
  • Validate an idea with your own experience.
  • Make a suggestion.
  • Expand on your colleagues’ postings.
  • No Plagiarism
  • APA citing

 
1st Colleague – Natasha Mills 
Managing Partnering Agreements
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In partnerships, the capabilities of human resources are instrumental in ensuring the effective and efficient delivery of the crafted business model and strategy. Simply put, HR executives play an important role during partnering agreements. Their role determines the outcome of the execution of the partnership, by fostering cooperation while at the same time preserving competitiveness by protecting organizational structures that facilitate proficient performance. This paper evaluates the necessary skills for HR executives that position the organization for successful partnerships. It also identifies HR skills needed for the preservation of competitive advantage and maximization of protection during information sharing with partners. Lastly, it examines the HR skills needed to maximize cooperation, leading to the organization’s own competitive advantages.
Skills for HR Executives to Manage Partnership Agreements
Human resource executives are strategic partners in the contemporary business environment. As seen thus far, partnerships present one of the most adopted business strategies of current times. Thus, HR executives have a critical role to play in ensuring that the partnerships the organization gets into will have positive implications on its business strategies. From this perspective, the most fundamental skill HR executives should have to manage partnership agreements is to be forward thinkers. Saxena & Bharadwaj (2009) posit that resources like skills and knowledge, which employees possess, are the most critical when it comes to partnerships. Therefore, through the skill of forward-thinking, HR executives will be able to contribute ideas on how to leverage the company’s knowledge and skills assets within the employees to protect competitive advantage. The HR executives must also exude higher levels of planning and development skills to help execute the partnership strategies. Lastly, HR executives should have advanced assessment skills to ensure that the partnerships the organization gets into will facilitate the achievement of company objectives.
HR Skills for Maximizing Protections and Preserving Competitive Advantages
Strategic human resource management is crucial for preserving competitiveness and maximizing protection. According to Ijose (2010), implementing strategic human resource management determines the competitive environment during partnerships. The author further identifies the necessary skills for this strategic HR management. The primary HR skill needed is an effective alignment of the company’s strategy with the traditional HR practices of recruiting, selecting, training, and rewarding personnel. After that, the HR of the organization must know how to leverage cross-functional competencies and knowledge (Ijose, 2010). Another needed HR skill is crafting, implementing, and executing the partnering strategy. A combination of these skills will help the organization know what information, knowledge, and technology are worth sharing without jeopardizing its competitive advantage during the partnership. As already mentioned, the knowledge and skills of employees are the most fundamental resource during partnerships. HR is largely responsible for this resource, and through the identified skills, HR will preserve and protect them, thereby preserving competitiveness.
HR Skills for Maximizing Cooperation
Human resources are responsible for maximizing cooperation as much as they are for protecting and preserving competitiveness. The secret is to find a balance between strategies that enhance cooperation and those that protect the critical assets of the organization and, by extension, its competitiveness. Ijose (2010) argues that the operations of human resources determine the ability of the company to meet its obligation to partners. Sophisticated HR practices cause operational inefficiencies that cripple cooperation. Therefore, the crucial HR skill that fosters cooperation is simplicity and excellence in the execution of the business strategy of the partnership. The excellence is achieved through strategic training of talent, recruitment and retaining of talented personnel, promotion of effective strategy execution through work structure, and having a strong management team. Basically, HR can maximize cooperation by conducting its roles strategically and with utmost excellence. The result will be the right balance between cooperation and preservation of the company’s competitive advantage, leading to increased profit margins.
In conclusion, human resources do not have to acquire any unique skills to ensure the success of a partnership. The core skill HR needs is to be more strategic in the execution of its roles for a balance between cooperation and preservation of the competitive advantage of the organization.
References
Ijose, O. (2010). Strategic human resource management, small and medium sized enterprises and strategic partnership capability. Journal of Management and Marketing Research, 5, 1.
Saxena, K. B. C., & Bharadwaj, S. S. (2009). Managing business processes through outsourcing: a strategic partnering perspective. Business Process Management Journal.
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2nd Colleague – Tylecia Westbrook 
RE: Discussion – Week 3
 
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To effectively manage partnering agreements, a HR manager needs to have great communication skills. Communication is very important whenever two parties are working together. It helps to prevent disagreements and enhances cooperation between the two teams. A HR manager also ought to have great negotiation skills (Ijose, 2010). This will help ensure that the company they work for benefits from the partnership as much as the other company does. Other important skills in managing partnering agreements are interpersonal and teamwork skills (Ijose, 2010). The HR manager will be required to work with people from a different company and it is important to connect with them well.
 
Partnering agreements that involve sharing information can be quite challenging. To maximize protection and preserve competitive advantage for the organization, a HR manager needs to have skills like confidentiality (Saxena & Bharadwaj, 2009). With these skills, a HR manager will understand what to share with the partners and what not to share. For example, the HR manager cannot disclose employee information or information on the company’s strategies to the partners. The HR manager will also need to have ethical skills (Saxena & Bharadwaj, 2009). Ethics will help them adhere to the rules and regulations of the company and guide them to do what is right to protect the organization.
 
To maximize cooperation, HR managers need to have teamwork skills. It is important to understand that in partnering agreements, there are so many roles and the job cannot be effectively done without the support of each other. By forming effective teams, HR managers can maximize cooperation (Ijose, 2010). Mentoring skills can also help maximize cooperation. Most of the time, people fail to cooperate because they do not understand the task fully. HR managers should therefore teach employees about the company and the partnering agreement. This way, they will feel engaged as part of the project and will be willing to cooperate (Ijose, 2010).
 
Technical skills in a HR manager can lead to its own competitive advantage. If a HR manager is proficient with digital tools and can take advantage of artificial intelligence, that is a good thing for the company. This is because these skills will improve the efficiency of operations in the company. These skills will also allow the HR manager to make use of company data in strategic planning (Saxena & Bharadwaj, 2009). Data can be a powerful tool to help organizations achieve competitive advantage. HR managers, therefore, need to possess the skills that can help them gain meaningful insights from the company’s data to facilitate decision-making.
 
Ijose, O. (2010). Strategic human resource management, small and medium sized enterprises and strategic partnership capability. Journal of Management and Marketing Research, 5, 1. Retrieved from https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.478.4303&rep=rep1&type=pdf
 
Saxena, K. B. C., & Bharadwaj, S. S. (2009). Managing business processes through outsourcing: a strategic partnering perspective. Business Process Management Journal. Retrieved from https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/14637150910987919/full/html
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