Relationship Framework Implementation

Retail omni market practices are based on relationships and collaboration across the entire market chain requiring a combination of flexible and robust practices and tools to support these practices.  This framework requires a focus on process and collaboration rather than any tool or even set of tools in particular. This can be a very difficult lift because it requires a focus on process and collaboration first and then a focus on tools and technology second.  This relationship framework requires a level of understanding and collaboration practices across the retail market network that can be difficult to maintain and the framework implementation requires a robust collaboration practice at a culture level across the network.  The process framework of collaboration and engagement must be developed in order to deliver the sense and respond capabilities that will then utilize the technology tools and platforms to deliver.

The market partners must remember that the focus should be based on process to develop sense and respond practices and when this is done the tools and technology can be identified to support the process.  This is a challenge now because the velocity of change demands a velocity of response from the market partners and this velocity of response has been reactionary rather than coordinated. Every partner in the market now has capabilities in market features and functionality to support increased partner collaboration and the reaction of the larger partners in this market has been a focus on acquisition of these partners to realize the capabilities they have developed and therefore improve their ability to react to market change.

The velocity of change is a key business factor in development and implementation of a relationship framework and this must remain a key factor in the development and implementation of this framework.  The tools will come and go in this environment and this drives a key business requirement for the relationship framework to design a flexible and robust foundation for the framework that supports the future ability to add and remove tools as the factors changes and the tools change and improve.  

This requires a difference in the culture of the design and delivery of the relationship framework for all partners involved and this change includes a change in the culture to embrace robust collaborative sense and respond capabilities to identify and implement not only changes to the relationship framework and tools related to the framework, it also requires change to the development and implementation new business capabilities.  The partners must not lose site of the fact that the strategic goal of the relationship framework is improved ability to sense and respond to the changes and the velocity of these changes in the most efficient manner.

And now for the audience participation portion of the show…

ECommerce will have wide ranging impacts on both the retail and manufacturing sectors.  How can you focus these abilities to improve the consumer's experience? Improving the consumer’s experience will require a re-evaluation of the sales channels, the manufacturing channels and practices and the supply chain channels and practices from the raw materials to the consumers’ homes.  In order to ensure and maintain success in this new reality you must harness the tools and capabilities in many new areas. How can you support these continuously changing requirements?