It's good to talk: How one company strengthened its business‐to‐business partnerships

Abstract

Purpose

This review seeks to consider the use of intellectual capital reporting to strengthen business‐to‐business partnerships.

Design/methodology/approach

The piece uses a case study of QST, a quoted Taiwanese multinational in the fastener industry producing C‐class industrial components. It shows how the company increased partner trust through information transparency.

Findings

How much do the firms you do business with know about you? Most publicly available information about any company is patchy and piecemeal – it comes in many forms, is held in different places and – of course – does not include sensitive, confidential items that competitors would dearly like to know. But if your suppliers and customers had more information, would they do more business with you? If you made a point of giving them the information they would like to have in one regular report, would they trust the company more, or have greater confidence in how you manage your partnership with them?

Practical implications

The piece describes the way one company developed an intellectual capital report. It explains how the attitudes of business partners may be influenced by giving them the information they feel they need about the company.

Social implications

The review draws attention to the need for trust in the development of long‐term business‐to‐business relationships.

Originality/value

The review highlights the importance of relationship transparency as companies become increasingly interconnected.

Citation

(2012), "It's good to talk: How one company strengthened its business‐to‐business partnerships", Strategic Direction, Vol. 28 No. 1, pp. 6-9. https://doi.org/10.1108/02580541211189076