Both manufacturers and retailers that participated in our research cited a lack of dedicated resources as one of the top three reasons for the failure of collaboration efforts. Companies frequently underestimate the resources required to make collaborations work, assuming that they can leave it up to staff in various functions to do what's required in addition to their other responsibilities.
In practice, even relatively simple collaborative tasks will be more difficult than equivalent activities conducted within the walls of the organization. That's because staff must overcome differences in culture, organization, and terminology, not to mention the basic challenge of finding the right contact within the partner organization with whom to liaise.
Disconnects within one organization can create problems, too. A "grassroots" collaboration started between two supply chain managers can lead to rapid performance improvements, only to be snuffed out when those higher in the organization fail to understand the initiative's potential. Alternatively, a collaboration agreement made between two board-level executives will fizzle out if the managers responsible for executing it think it is yet another short-lived senior management whim; if they can't see how the collaboration will help them achieve their own objectives; or if they lack the incentive to put additional effort into the project on top of their existing day-to-day roles.
To prevent both of these problems, best-practice companies devote extra resources to their collaborations, particularly in the early stages of a new relationship. Appropriate infrastructure for a successful collaboration begins at the top of the organization, with a steering committee of senior leaders who can set the defining vision for the collaborative effort and allocate resources to support it. The detailed design of the collaboration program is then completed by a team comprising members of all relevant functions from both partners in the collaboration. The team for a demand-planning effort, for example, should include members from sales, finance, and supply chain for the manufacturer, and from purchasing, merchandising, and store operations for the retailer. This team will also be responsible for the day-to-day monitoring of the effort once it is up and running.
Execution of the collaboration should take place within the line organization and will ultimately form part of the everyday responsibility of the staff assigned to it. The best companies avoid forcing their front-line staff to "reinvent the wheel" by providing strong support when establishing each new collaboration. They may, for example, leverage experience gained in previous collaborations by setting up teams to support their colleagues during the initial phase of subsequent efforts.