If there is one area that is particularly characteristic of the high-tech B2B/B2G enterprise, it is the vital need for cooperation between multiple actors, both within the company and with the outside world.
Cooperate between different specialists to define and develop the best possible products and offers:
- Researchers specialising in technologies that can be used in the future
- Specialists in the different techniques needed for a product (e.g. for a satellite, from propulsion to optics to protection and communications)
- Specialists in legal issues (e.g. intellectual property or contracts), product liability, services, procurement, etc.
Also cooperate with :
- Customers at the technical level to develop products together
- Research laboratories and start-ups to benefit from or control innovations
- Subsidiaries
- Countries
- Partner networks…
Internal and external cooperation is everywhere in the high-tech B2B/B2G company.
Facilitating effective cooperation in high-tech B2B/B2G
What elements facilitate effective cooperation? A few possibilities can be outlined:
First of all, even if it may seem elementary, internal cooperation depends on the ability to locate the competent contacts on a given subject in sometimes vast and multi-entity organisations. This is not only a matter of having an up-to-date and shared “company directory”, which is rather simple with today’s IT resources, but also a matter of being able to identify precisely the subjects on which a given person can be called upon, which may be less so and requires preparation with the participation of all.
Equally basic but often forgotten, the basis for interpersonal cooperation, whether internally or externally, is to know each other at least a little personally and to have had the opportunity to meet, but not only on potentially difficult or conflicting issues.
Internal and external cooperation
For the intern, some real or virtual “out of context” opportunities must be provided, while recognising that the generalisation of distance does not always facilitate things. Many teams are increasingly required to cooperate with teams they have never met “in person”.
Externally, knowing that certain types of contact (with clients’ buyers, for example) are very strictly regulated, it is not a question of mixing professional and personal relationships but simply of knowing how to create a minimum of empathy. Everyone knows that this is a matter of personal talent, but in this case it is largely supported and validated by professional competence.
Cooperation between entities
Secondly, cooperation between entities is a matter for management, both to encourage cooperation and to set an example. The role of line managers is essential in explaining why collaboration with other stakeholders is essential to achieve common objectives. It is a matter of facilitating and valuing it, of explaining arbitrations that are sometimes frustrating for teams and, above all, of practising it. Everyone knows that when two heads of two different departments do not get along, their subordinates will not get along with the subordinates of the other department either.
Finally, cooperation between entities is also a matter of clarity in two areas.
- Job descriptions should explicitly mention in the tasks and responsibilities what kind of cooperation is expected, with which entities and with which other positions.
- Collective processes, on the other hand, should be written down and explicitly state which types of cooperation are mandatory in a given process.
For example, the job description of the technical product manager should explicitly mention what kind of network to lead and with whom to cooperate. Similarly, the process of launching a new product on the market should, in addition to the list of elements to be checked (e.g. is the value proposition clearly defined and formulated?) and the tasks to be carried out, explicitly mention which types of participation and cooperation are mandatory.
