Relationships: An important company value

This post originally appeared at petechristianbooks.com

In the early 1990s, a study was conducted by Ken Preiss, Steve Goldman, and Dr. Roger Nagle from Lehigh University. It was conducted to determine what high-performing companies were doing that enabled them to be leaders in their industries. They found that there were four characteristics which they termed Agility. One of the four features was that each company cooperated to enhance competitiveness. They did this by working closely with other businesses to provide a full complement of products and services. They had established relationships, an important company value.

Companies act as one entity through relationship-building. This is an important company value.

One of my very successful clients is a great practitioner of relationship building. I and my former colleagues at espi have completed many important projects with this client over a 25-year relationship.

First, we helped them to select a new information system which used to run their business. This was a big, first time project for any company. Right from our start with them, they showed great trust in us. Our relationship with them continued to grow and prosper.