Reference no: EM133152324

Scenario You own a bakery café which has been successful ior the last 10 years. You have opened 3 branches in the Sydney metropolitan area. As your business gained a great reputation in the market, there were several approaches for franchise inquiries. However, you are concerned that the quality of products and services may be affected; therefore, you have decided not to consider the franchise option. Considering your business objective (to increase sales) and intense competition in the industry, you are looking for collaborative alliances with potential collaborators. As the current production capacity can meet up to 7 times greater than the current sales volume, you will need to find an appropriate collaborator to boost up your sales. The business has the following objectives for business expansion or sales increase:

•  The quality of the products must be managed and produced under the main branch supervision.
• The products are in very high demand as the customers are satisfied with the quality.
• The product know-how must be treated as intellectual property and is not an option to share.
• The business considers collaborative alliances to expand its business. The partner business must meet the following selection criteria determined by the business:

 - The partner business must have a good market reputation. 

- The partner business has an annual turnover of at least $2 million. 

- The partner business must be able to accelerate your business sales. 

- The partner business must be able to support training for collaborative works.

 - The partner business must have appropriate communication channels for collaborative alliances. 

Question 1: 

a. Identify at least two opportunities for collaborative alliances (strategic alliance) and explain how the business can increase sales according to the organisational objectives. 

b. Evaluate each opportunity identified in Question 1 for collaborative alliances.

Question 2: 

List methods to identify and evaluate potential collaborators. 

Question 3: 

a. Based on your evaluation of opportunities for collaborative alliances in Question 1, which collaborator (out of your 2 suggestions) will you recommend? Provide your reasons.

b. Based on your recommendation in Part (a), evaluate the following companies according to the organisational policies and select the most appropriate collaborator with your reason. 

Annual turnover A$ 10 million A$ 5 million 

Training facilities Available Not Available 

Communication channel Headquarters and branches Only headquarters

Question 4: 

Developing relationships with the identified collaborators is important. Explain how you will initiate and develop a relationship with them.

Question 5: 

The partner business for the collaborative alliance has provided you with the following information: 

• The partner business requests to share the customer data.
• The partner business requests to share the profits and a 50/50 partnership agreement.
• The partner business wants to have training for baking products.
• The partner business wants to learn how to operate a bakery and café. Required: Analyse the partner's request for the collaborative alliance. Explain which requests can be accepted and which requests cannot be accepted. Provide your reasons.

Question 6: 

You are required to negotiate with the partner about the requests provided in Question 5 and draw up an agreement.

a. Explain which options must be negotiated.

b. During the negotiation, list appropriate communication skills for effective negotiation. 

c. Explain the steps in documenting the agreement for the collaborative alliance. 

Question 7: 

Once the agreement is finalised and is signed by both parties, explain why you should review the formal agreement once it is operating