After emerging as one of the rapidly developing continent in the world,many opportunities are opening up in Africa and companies from various continents are scrambling for the economic opportunities the continent has to offer especially in the construction industry. This they do by partnering with African construction companies
In order for various construction companies to achieve this they need to get to partner with African companies who have been in the industry as so that they can record benefits of partnering, but it is quite difficult to actually reap those benefits in real life. Experience has shown that different levels of partnerships have different success factors.
In the current trends there are three great forms of partnerships between construction companies based on the goals and the intensity of the partnership: operational, tactical and strategic.
Operational Partnership
This is a common way of partnership across Africa whereby there is rationalization and streamlining of operation which saves companies with cost and resources.
This is where by your partner provides services or products that they can produce more efficiently than you. The partnership allows you to improve your competitiveness in terms of price or time. You can focus on your strengths in the partnership, which can boost the quality of your offering.
An operational partnership requires a clear agreement on responsibilities and work distribution between the partners. Since the goal is to make the process lean, your partner must pay attention to systematization of their processes, information management and communication.
In construction, operational partnerships are often outsourcing or subcontracting. However, in order to make a real partnership both companies must agree on and commit to common goals.
Tactical Partnership
This is the modern partnership used in the construction industry, the driver of tactical become the will for both companies to integrate the process and become more that the sum of their products.
The major partnership in construction for instance between a contractor, an architect, an engineering firm and a quantity surveyor. Together they can offer, e.g. design-build projects of common importance.
Learning together and creating a common culture are competitive advantages in a tactical partnership. Technical communication is important, but as important is real dialogue between partners.
Tactical partnerships reduce rework and through learning make the collaboration efficient. They improve the quality of the processes, which leads to improved profitability of each partner’s business.
Strategic Partnership
The most demanding and possibly most rewarding form of partnerships is strategic. They are based on a shared strategy between companies.
Strategic partnership can create a remarkable competitive edge through product or business model innovation. The partnering companies are able to create something unique that without the tight relationship would not be realizable. One of my clients, for example, has combined their knowledge in software development and construction economics with that of a property service firm and a management consultant. Together they offer a new service for building users, to optimize their space usage for new ways of working
