Business partner
Encyclopedia
Business partner is a term used to denote a commercial entity with which another commercial entity has some form of alliance
. This relationship may be a highly contractual, exclusive bond in which both entities commit not to ally with third parties. Alternatively, it may be a very loose arrangement designed largely to impress customers and competitors with the size of the network the business partners belong to.
, and it is because of the potential for confusion between the two that widespread use of 'business partner' has been discouraged at times in the past.
A business partner can be:
This is a wider definition than a business alliance
.
A Business Partner is becoming more common in HR departments as it represents the employees position, ideally seeing the HR issues from the employers and employees point of view. Small and medium business are often turning to external HR Business Partners to solve any HR disputes.
, which previously had an exclusive arrangement with Intel for the supply of processors, announced in 2006 that it would also source some processors (for desktops and servers) from AMD. Dell will likely see higher unit costs from Intel, for ordering lower quantities, but over the long term it should benefit from price competition between AMD and Intel. And over the short term, AMD presumably made Dell a very attractive offer in order to win the business. Intel's failure to retain all of Dell's business led to Intel announcing 10,500 job cuts in September 2006.
. Members of this IT-focused alliance include Microsoft
, Oracle Corporation
, Sun Microsystems
and SAP
. This highlights two problems with multi-party partnerships:
Alliance
An alliance is an agreement or friendship between two or more parties, made in order to advance common goals and to secure common interests.See also military alliance and business alliance.-International relations:...
. This relationship may be a highly contractual, exclusive bond in which both entities commit not to ally with third parties. Alternatively, it may be a very loose arrangement designed largely to impress customers and competitors with the size of the network the business partners belong to.
Differentiation
The meaning of the term is quite different from that implied in partnershipPartnership
A partnership is an arrangement where parties agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests.Since humans are social beings, partnerships between individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments, and varied combinations thereof, have always been and remain commonplace...
, and it is because of the potential for confusion between the two that widespread use of 'business partner' has been discouraged at times in the past.
A business partner can be:
- A supplierSupplierSupplier may refer to:*Manufacturer, uses tools and labor to make things for sale*Processor , converts a product from one form to another*Packager , encloses products for distribution, storage, sale, and use...
- A customerCustomerA customer is usually used to refer to a current or potential buyer or user of the products of an individual or organization, called the supplier, seller, or vendor. This is typically through purchasing or renting goods or services...
- A channel intermediary (such as an agent or resellerResellerA reseller is a company or individual that purchases goods or services with the intention of reselling them rather than consuming or using them. This is usually done for profit...
), or - A vendor of complementary offerings (for example, one party sells the hardware, while the other sells the software)
This is a wider definition than a business alliance
Business alliance
A business alliance is an agreement between businesses, usually motivated by cost reduction and improved service for the customer. Alliances are often bounded by a single agreement with equitable risk and opportunity share for all parties involved and are typically managed by an integrated project...
.
A Business Partner is becoming more common in HR departments as it represents the employees position, ideally seeing the HR issues from the employers and employees point of view. Small and medium business are often turning to external HR Business Partners to solve any HR disputes.
Disintegration
DellDell
Dell, Inc. is an American multinational information technology corporation based in 1 Dell Way, Round Rock, Texas, United States, that develops, sells and supports computers and related products and services. Bearing the name of its founder, Michael Dell, the company is one of the largest...
, which previously had an exclusive arrangement with Intel for the supply of processors, announced in 2006 that it would also source some processors (for desktops and servers) from AMD. Dell will likely see higher unit costs from Intel, for ordering lower quantities, but over the long term it should benefit from price competition between AMD and Intel. And over the short term, AMD presumably made Dell a very attractive offer in order to win the business. Intel's failure to retain all of Dell's business led to Intel announcing 10,500 job cuts in September 2006.
Cohesion
One example of a business partnership is the "Agility Alliance" originated by Electronic Data SystemsElectronic Data Systems
HP Enterprise Services is the global business and technology services division of Hewlett Packard's HP Enterprise Business strategic business unit. It was formed by the combination of HP's legacy services consulting and outsourcing business and the integration of acquired Electronic Data Systems,...
. Members of this IT-focused alliance include Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
, Oracle Corporation
Oracle Corporation
Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation that specializes in developing and marketing hardware systems and enterprise software products – particularly database management systems...
, Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
and SAP
SAP AG
SAP AG is a German software corporation that makes enterprise software to manage business operations and customer relations. Headquartered in Walldorf, Baden-Württemberg, with regional offices around the world, SAP is the market leader in enterprise application software...
. This highlights two problems with multi-party partnerships:
- Two of the companies may be partners with a third member of the partnership, but highly aggressive towards each other. (Oracle and SAP compete against each other in the ERP market.)
- One party may be partner to a second party when targeting one market, but competitive against that same company when targeting another market. (Microsoft may be happy to work with Sun when Sun is offering its servers, but far less happy when Sun is proposing OpenOffice.orgOpenOffice.orgOpenOffice.org, commonly known as OOo or OpenOffice, is an open-source application suite whose main components are for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, and databases. OpenOffice is available for a number of different computer operating systems, is distributed as free software...
, in contention with Microsoft Office.)