New relationship advice for business

PRESS RELEASE

11 May 2005

The world’s first relationship management standard is to be developed by the British Standards Institution (BSI) in collaboration with Partnership Sourcing Limited (PSL).

The standard will provide a framework for businesses to manage their internal and external relationships effectively. It will help improve the competitiveness of companies and the efficiency of managing relationships within the supply chain.

Frank Post, Marketing Director of British Standards said, “A business is built on the strength of its relationships and BSI is providing a code of practice that will set the standard for companies worldwide. By being the first country to develop a standard for relationship management we are helping to give UK plc an advantage in global business.”

With outsourcing and off-shoring becoming typical operations for business, there is an increased emphasis on managing effective external relationships. In larger organizations there is also often a need to manage internal relations between businesses and departments. The new standard on relationship management will provide a structure for managing these effectively.

“The standard will address the most challenging aspect of relationship management by providing a strategic framework to facilitate cooperation and integration. It will have wide applications for Government, Industry and Societal organizations on how to collaborate and manage valuable business relationships,” said Mr Post.

The standard will cover a range of areas vital for successful relationship management such as: the importance of relationships, awareness, knowledge, internal assessment, partner selection, value creation and innovation, staying together, working and exit strategy.

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