Four colleagues talking around a long table covered in maps

PartnersPartner strategy

The right partners for your strategy

No organisation delivers its strategy entirely on its own. The Next Organization helps you decide what to keep in-house and where you need partners. Then we choose, together, the partners that best fit your goals and your organisation.

Sound familiar?

Your partners were picked by chance and never reviewed
You are unsure what to keep in-house and what to outsource
Every department chooses suppliers on its own criteria
A partnership takes more time than it gives back
You have a long list of candidates, but no way to choose

From strategy to choosing a partner

Choosing a partner does not start with a list of names, but with your strategy. First you decide what role a partner needs to play and what you would rather do yourself. Then you assess every candidate on the same criteria.

Choosing a partner is a strategic choice. It affects your organisational design and often your service model.

How you get to a choice

Your strategy
The role of a partner, and what you do yourself
Every candidate on the same criteria
Your choice of partner

AffectsOrganisational designService model

Five criteria for choosing a partner

Choose a criterion, see what you assess and decide how much it matters to you.

Fit with your strategy

What you assess

Does the partner contribute to your goals and your customer promise?

Fit with your values

What you assess

Does the partner share your view on, say, sustainability or customer contact?

Scalability

What you assess

Can the partner grow with you, with processes and digital tools to match?

Financial strength

What you assess

Can the partner invest and keep the partnership going?

Mutual value

What you assess

What does the partner get out of it, and is that enough to stay?

How much does this criterion matter to you?

Your weighting

Schematic, without figures. Agree the weighting before you assess any candidates.

Partners differ in role and depth: one supplies a single product or system, another runs a whole part of your business for you. With a technology partner, a clear request for proposal works best, setting out your vision, goals and requirements in order of priority.

How you then shape the partnership is covered in Network Business Model Canvas.

What you get

You know what to keep in-house and where you need partners.
You choose candidates on clear criteria that fit your strategy.
Every partnership starts with the right party and clear expectations.

Frequently asked questions

What do you keep in-house and what do you outsource?

Keep what sets you apart and what customers experience directly from you. Anything someone else can do better, faster or cheaper is a candidate for a partner. Do keep an eye on the dependency that creates.

What criteria should you use to choose a partner?

Look at fit with your strategy and values, scalability and financial strength. Decide in advance how much each criterion weighs. That way everyone assesses the candidates in the same way.

What is the difference between a supplier and a strategic partner?

A supplier delivers what you ask for, at an agreed price. A strategic partner shares your goal and contributes to the value for your customer. That calls for different agreements, for example about contributions and how returns are shared.

Can AI help with choosing partners?

Yes, especially with gathering candidates and a first assessment. An AI model can quickly score a long list on fixed criteria. The weighing up and the conversation with the partner remain human work.