STUDENTS' CORNER - 199

A long enduring business partner ceases to be just a business associate.

Relatedness is considered more significant than relationship between two entities; they may be individuals, corporate, and even nations across the world. We saw relationship is in essence impersonal , contextual consequence; that is decided by largely situation. Say, between a father and a son , there is relationship in the sense the son  knows his father and vice versa. But relatedness is deeper in character; in terms of feelings and emotions; mutual need , genuine and steadfast, characterizes the relationship.  On observation, one can see there are umpteen number of fathers and sons who do not feel any attachment to one another ; relationship does not guarantee emotional bonding and binding. Therefore relatedness confers more real meaning to relationship. In the field of business also, this factor functions though many may not be aware of it.

Now, we know relationship is given but relatedness is earned and deserved.  One’s experience followed by an open transparent investigation decides the choice of being related.  Restricting ourselves to the business domain,  relatedness with business partners is the result of three qualities: credibility, trust and of course so-called reputation. First two is exclusively personal experience and judgment and the third one reflects judgments of others – may be experts in the chosen field—and all the same it also matters. Just a few words about each component that contributes to the choice of relatedness.  Credibility towards a business partner is built if you are certain that his company performs well because of the experts he has and whose guidance takes the company to claim a better market share. This fact is close to inspiring trust in the company; trust in the sense that the company under their close monitoring remains sensitive to the needs of the customers. After all, being sensitive to the needs of the customers means a good reliable knowledge about the customers including their pattern of buying behavior. Credibility and trustworthiness build a strong sustained reputation for the company. 

Among umpteen number of possible business partners who crowd in on the market scenario,  choosing one for you to associate with implies from impersonal fact of relationship,  you move towards a choice of being willingly related with one.  With the stormy intrusion of online marketing, marketing scenario has become a great challenge. Taking into careful consideration the current existing marketing situation, and also the vibrant dynamics of supply chain , you have to choose your business partner.

We will see in our next session the possible factors that one cannot afford to miss while choosing a business partner.