key partnership essay

Key Partnerships: Business Model Canvas Explained

The Business Model Canvas is a strategic management tool that allows businesses to visualize, design, and innovate their business models . One of the key components of this model is 'Key Partnerships', which refers to the network of suppliers and partners that make the business model work. This article will delve into the intricacies of Key Partnerships, exploring its importance, types, benefits, and how to identify and manage these partnerships effectively.

Key Partnerships are crucial for any business , regardless of its size or industry. They provide resources and activities that the company cannot provide on its own, thereby allowing the company to focus on its core competencies. In this context, partnerships can range from strategic alliances between non-competitors, joint ventures to develop new businesses, or buyer-supplier relationships to assure reliable supplies.

Understanding Key Partnerships

Key Partnerships in the Business Model Canvas refer to the relationships that your company has established with other businesses, government bodies, non-consumer entities, or even individuals, to create value for your customers. These partnerships are formed to optimize operations, reduce risks, or acquire resources.

Key Partnerships are not just about outsourcing or purchasing services. They are about leveraging the strengths of others to improve your business model. They can help a company extend its reach, improve its product or service, reduce costs, and mitigate risks.

Types of Key Partnerships

There are four main types of partnerships that a company can form: strategic alliances (with non-competitors), competition-based alliances (with competitors), joint ventures, and buyer-supplier relationships. Each type serves a different purpose and comes with its own set of advantages and challenges.

Strategic alliances with non-competitors allow companies to share resources and capabilities without directly competing with each other. Competition-based alliances, on the other hand, involve companies in the same industry working together to achieve a common goal. Joint ventures are formed when two or more companies decide to undertake a specific project or business activity together. Lastly, buyer-supplier relationships ensure a reliable supply of essential resources.

Importance of Key Partnerships

Key Partnerships are crucial for several reasons . They allow a company to focus on its core competencies while relying on partners for other resources or activities. This can lead to cost savings and increased efficiency. Partnerships also allow companies to access new markets, technologies, and expertise, fostering innovation and growth.

Furthermore, partnerships can help mitigate risks. By partnering with other companies, a business can share the risks associated with a particular project or activity. This can be particularly beneficial in uncertain or volatile markets.

Identifying Key Partnerships

Identifying potential partners is a crucial step in the process of forming Key Partnerships. This involves understanding your company's needs and goals, as well as the resources and capabilities of potential partners. It's important to consider both the short-term and long-term implications of a partnership.

Some questions to ask when identifying potential partners include: What resources or activities do we need that we cannot provide ourselves? What are our strategic goals, and how can a partner help us achieve them? What are the potential benefits and risks of partnering with this company?

Assessing Potential Partners

Once potential partners have been identified, the next step is to assess their suitability . This involves evaluating their resources, capabilities, reputation, and financial stability. It's also important to consider the potential partner's strategic goals and how they align with your own.

When assessing potential partners, it's important to conduct thorough due diligence. This includes reviewing financial statements, conducting interviews, and seeking advice from industry experts. It's also important to consider the potential partner's cultural fit, as this can significantly impact the success of the partnership.

Establishing and Managing Partnerships

Establishing and managing partnerships requires careful planning and ongoing management. This involves setting clear expectations, establishing communication channels , and regularly reviewing and adjusting the partnership as necessary.

It's important to establish a formal agreement that outlines the terms of the partnership, including the roles and responsibilities of each party, the allocation of resources, and the handling of any disputes. Regular communication is also crucial to ensure that the partnership is functioning effectively and that any issues are addressed promptly.

Benefits of Key Partnerships

Key Partnerships offer numerous benefits to businesses. They can provide access to new markets, technologies, and expertise , fostering innovation and growth. They can also lead to cost savings and increased efficiency by allowing companies to focus on their core competencies.

Furthermore, partnerships can help mitigate risks. By sharing the risks associated with a particular project or activity, companies can operate in uncertain or volatile markets with greater confidence. They can also increase their competitive advantage by leveraging the strengths of their partners.

Challenges of Key Partnerships

While partnerships offer numerous benefits, they also come with their own set of challenges. These can include differences in culture, goals, and management styles , which can lead to conflicts and misunderstandings. There's also the risk of becoming overly dependent on a partner, which can leave a company vulnerable if the partnership ends.

Despite these challenges, with careful planning and management, Key Partnerships can provide significant benefits to businesses. They can enhance a company's capabilities, extend its reach, and provide a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

In conclusion, Key Partnerships are a critical component of the Business Model Canvas. They provide companies with the resources and capabilities they need to create value for their customers. By forming strategic alliances, joint ventures, and buyer-supplier relationships, companies can enhance their business models, foster innovation, and achieve their strategic goals.

However, forming and managing partnerships requires careful planning and management. It's important to identify and assess potential partners carefully, establish clear expectations, and regularly review and adjust the partnership as necessary. With the right approach, Key Partnerships can provide significant benefits to businesses, including access to new markets, cost savings, and increased competitive advantage.

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Key Partners Building Block of the Business Model Canvas

Published: 19 July, 2023

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Business Models

Table of Contents

Introduction to Key Partners Building Block in BMC

In an interconnected world, leveraging relationships with ecosystem partners has become increasingly important because it allows you to focus on your relative strengths. Think about the four different types of partnerships, including strategic alliances between non-competitors, coopetition (strategic partnerships between competitors), joint ventures to develop new businesses, and buyer-supplier relationships to assure reliable supplies.

Key Partners are essential relationships that a company has with other entities, like suppliers, manufacturers, or advisors. These partnerships provide vital support, helping the business model to function effectively in areas where it would be inefficient to handle everything on its own. Introducing our Extended Business Model Canvas – a powerful tool that takes your business planning to the next level. This innovative framework goes beyond the traditional canvas by incorporating crucial elements such as Key Partners, Business Drivers, customers, the team, and the Unfair Advantage. Unlock the full potential of your business and download the model now to take the first step towards achieving your goals and thriving in today’s dynamic market landscape.

Download the Complete eXtended Business Model package, including instructions for putting it to work for you today.

The UNITE Business Model Canvas

Key partners in business model canvas.

Key Partners is one of the building blocks of the Business Model Canvas and plays a crucial role in the success of a business. Once you understand your Value Chains, Key Resources , and Key Partners , it should be relatively easy to identify the key cost drivers and potential Opportunity Spaces for innovation. For any Business Model, managing costs is critical, but some Business Models are designed entirely around low-cost structures, such as “no-frills” airlines. What role do costs play in your Business Model? Are you seeking to simply optimize them, or could they play a more differentiating role?

Key Partners Examples

Apple company:.

• Type of Partnership: Buyer-Supplier Relationship
• Description: Apple relies on OEMs like Foxconn, which employs over 200,000 workers in Shenzen, China, to manufacture its products.
• Type of Partnership: Strategic Alliances
• Description: When Apple opened the iTunes Store, it formed strategic alliances with app developers and record companies to offer a wide range of apps and music to its customers.

Airbnb Company:

• Description: Airbnb collaborates with insurance providers, investors, and payment processors to ensure smooth transactions and provide insurance coverage for hosts and guests.
• Type of Partnership: Joint Ventures
• Description: Airbnb engaged in a joint venture with Tesla Motors to install charging stations at select hosts’ homes along the West Coast, promoting eco-friendly travel options for guests.
• Description: Airbnb forms strategic alliances with companies to sponsor events, expanding its brand visibility and attracting more potential hosts and guests.
• Type of Partnership: Not specified
• Description: Airbnb involved freelance photographers to improve the quality of property listings and increase hosts’ retention.

E-commerce Platform:

• Key Partners: Logistics Companies, Social Media Platforms, Payment Gateways
• Type of Partnership: Buyer-Supplier Relationship (with logistics and payment partners) and Strategic Alliances (with social media platforms)
• Description: An e-commerce platform collaborates with logistics companies and payment gateways to handle product delivery and transactions efficiently. Additionally, it forms strategic alliances with social media platforms to boost brand exposure and attract customers through advertising and promotions.

Ride-Sharing Service:

• Key Partners: Car Manufacturers for Fleet Partnerships, Mobile App Development Companies, Insurance Providers
• Type of Partnership: Buyer-Supplier Relationship (with car manufacturers and insurance providers) and Strategic Alliances (with app development companies)
• Description: A ride-sharing service forms fleet partnerships with car manufacturers to expand its vehicle fleet. It collaborates with mobile app development companies to enhance its app’s features and user experience. Additionally, it collaborates with insurance providers to offer insurance coverage for drivers and passengers.

Health-Tech Startup:

• Key Partners: Medical Equipment Suppliers, Healthcare Institutions for Research Collaborations, Mobile Health App Developers
• Type of Partnership: Buyer-Supplier Relationship (with medical equipment suppliers) and Strategic Alliances (with healthcare institutions and app developers)
• Description: A health-tech startup collaborates with medical equipment suppliers to source necessary devices for its healthcare solutions. It forms strategic alliances with healthcare institutions to conduct research and trials. Additionally, it partners with mobile health app developers to integrate health tracking features into its platform.

Key Partners’ main types

Key partnerships can be classified in four ways, with each arrangement having its own advantages and disadvantages.

Importantly, no matter the flavor of partnership, these agreements result in the creation of key partners for both business entities and therefore must be managed, cultivated, and regularly reviewed for their place in each company’s business model.

1. Strategic Alliances Partnerships:

• In strategic alliances, both companies agree to undertake a project that is mutually beneficial while remaining independent. This type of partnership is helpful in a competitive environment, as both companies share liability exposure. Examples include franchising, licensing, and affiliate marketing.

2. Coopetition Partnerships:

• Description: Coopetition partnerships involve rival companies forming a strategic partnership to achieve mutual benefits. This collaboration can lead to positive outcomes for both entities. An example is the cooperation between Pfizer and BioNTech to develop and distribute a COVID-19 vaccine.

3. Joint-Ventures Relationships:

• In joint ventures, two independent companies agree to work together on a specific project and share particular resources. This type of partnership is focused on a single joint project, distinguishing it from other partnerships. Joint ventures may cause conflicts between entities, and some experts advise caution with this type of key partnership.

4. Buyer-Supplier Relationships:

• Description: Buyer-supplier relationships involve commercial agreements for the purchase and supply of goods or services. These relationships are essential for businesses to deliver on their value proposition effectively. Buyers and suppliers are among the most critical key partners for a business. Maintaining productive buyer-supplier relationships is crucial for a company’s success, no matter which end of your company works is one of a business’s most important key activities.

Why do we Need Strategic Partnerships?

In a competitive environment characterized by the need for the reduction of risk and uncertainty, strategic partnerships offer the opportunity to build relationships and reduce costs. They reduce risk by diffusing exposure to changing business environments across the two companies.

Many times, strategic partnerships form a powerful building block of a business model by making key resources available at a manageable cost. Partners perform valuable services that would otherwise distract from our main value propositions.

The right partners perform important functions and help us complete our key activities and our customers’ Jobs to Be Done.

How do you Choose Your Key Partners?

Key partners are an important section of the business model canvas and business models as a whole. You should consider cultivating your key partnerships as one of your business’s key activities , which we’ve discussed elsewhere on the Digital Leadership website.

There can be no set rules for choosing your key partners. So much will depend on the specifics of your value proposition, their value proposition, and the overall business model of both companies. We thought about the factors behind successful key partnerships , however, and we think we’ve identified some common characteristics to keep in mind when choosing a key partner. Unlock the full potential of your business partnerships with The Unite Value Proposition Canvas Model, a comprehensive framework designed to help you identify and leverage successful key partnerships. By aligning your value proposition with that of your potential partners and understanding the overall business models of both companies, you can make informed decisions to create mutually beneficial relationships. You can download it now.

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Improving the management of complex business partnerships

Partnerships never go out of style. Companies regularly seek partners with complementary capabilities to gain access to new markets and channels, share intellectual property or infrastructure, or reduce risk. The more complex the business environment becomes—for instance, as new technologies emerge or as innovation cycles get faster—the more such relationships make sense. And the better companies get at managing individual relationships, the more likely it is that they will become “partners of choice” and able to build entire portfolios of practical and value-creating partnerships.

Of course, the perennial problems associated with managing business partnerships don’t go away either—particularly as companies increasingly strike relationships with partners in different sectors and geographies. The last time we polled executives on their perceived risks for strategic partnerships, 1 Observations collected in McKinsey’s 2015 survey of more than 1,250 executives. Sixty-eight percent said they expect their organizations to increase the number of joint ventures or large partnerships they participate in over the next five years. A separate, follow-up survey in 2018 showed that 73 percent of participants expect their companies to increase the number of large partnerships they engage in. the main ones were: partners’ disagreements on the central objectives for the relationship, poor communication practices among partners, poor governance processes, and, when market or other circumstances change, partners’ inability to identify and quickly make the changes needed for the relationship to succeed (exhibit).

In our work helping executive teams set up and navigate complex partnerships, we have witnessed firsthand how these problems crop up, and we have observed the different ways companies deal with them . The reality is: successful partnerships don’t just happen. Strong partners set a clear foundation for business relationships and nurture them. They emphasize accountability within and across partner companies, and they use metrics to gauge success. And they are willing to change things up if needed. Focusing on these priorities can help partnerships thrive and create more value than they would otherwise.

Establish a clear foundation

It seems obvious that partner companies would strive to find common ground from the start—particularly in the case of large joint ventures in which each side has a big financial stake, or in partnerships in which there are extreme differences in cultures, communications, and expectations.

Yet, in a rush to complete the deal, discussions about common goals often get overlooked. This is especially true in strategic alliances within an industry, where everyone assumes that because they are operating in the same sector they are already on the same page. By skipping this step, companies increase the stress and tension placed on the partnership and reduce the odds of its success. For instance, the day-to-day operators end up receiving confusing guidance or conflicting priorities from partner organizations.

Would you like to learn more about our Strategy & Corporate Finance Practice ?

How can the partners combat it? The individuals expected to lead day-to-day operations of the partnership, whether business-unit executives or alliance managers, should be part of negotiations at the outset. This happens less often than you think because business-development teams and lawyers are typically charged with hammering out the terms of the deal—the objectives, scope, and governance structure—while the operations piece often gets sorted out after the fact.

Transparency during negotiations is the only way to ensure that everyone understands the partners’ goals (whether their primary focus is on improving operations or launching a new strategy) and that everyone is using the same measures of success. Even more important, transparency encourages trust and collaboration among partners, which is especially important when you consider the number of executives across the organizations who will likely rotate in and out of leadership roles during the life of the relationship.

Inevitably, points of tension will emerge. For instance, companies often disagree on financial flows or decision rights. But we have seen partners articulate such differences during the negotiation period, find agreement on priorities, and reset timelines and milestones. They defused much of the tension up front, so when new wrinkles—such as market shifts and changes in partners’ strategies—did emerge, the companies were more easily able to avoid costly setbacks and delays in the business activities they were pursuing together.

Nurture the relationship

Even business relationships that start off solidly can erode, given individual biases and common communication and collaboration issues. There are several measures partners can take to avoid these traps.

Connect socially

If executives in the partner organizations actively look for opportunities to understand one another, good collaboration and communication at the operations level are likely to follow. Given time and geographic constraints, it can be hard for them to do so, but as one energy-sector executive who has negotiated and managed dozens of partnerships noted, “It’s important to spend as much time as you can on their turf.” He says about 30 to 40 percent of partnership meetings are about business; the rest of the time is spent building friendships and trust.

Keep everyone in the loop

Skipping the step of keeping everyone informed can create unnecessary confusion and rework for partner organizations. That is what happened in the case of an industrial joint venture: the first partner in the joint venture included a key business-unit leader in all venture-related discussions. The second partner apprised a key business-unit leader about major developments, but this individual did not actually join the discussions until late in the joint-venture negotiation. At that point, as he learned more about the agreement, he flagged several issues, including inconsistencies in the partners’ access to vendors and related data. He immediately recognized these issues because they directly affected operations in his division. Because he hadn’t been included in early discussions, however, the partners wasted time designing an operating model for the joint venture that would likely not work for one of them. They had to go back to the drawing board.

Recognize each other’s capabilities, cultures, and motivations

Partners come together to take advantage of complementary geographies, corresponding sales and marketing strengths, or compatibilities in other functional areas. But it is important to understand which partner is best at what . This process must start before the deal is completed—but cannot stop at signing. In the case of one consumer-goods joint venture, for instance, the two partner organizations felt confident in their plan to combine the manufacturing strength of one company with the sales and marketing strengths of the other. During their discussions on how to handle financial reporting, however, it became clear that the partner with sales and marketing strengths had a spike in forecasting, budgeting, and reporting expertise. The product team for the first partner had originally expected to manage these finance tasks, but both partner teams ultimately agreed that the second partner should take them on. In this way, they were able to enhance the joint venture’s ongoing operations and ensure its viability.

Equally important is understanding each partner’s motivation behind the deal. This is a common point of focus during early negotiations; it should continue to be discussed as part of day-to-day operations—particularly if there are secondary motivators, such as access to suppliers or transfer of capabilities, that are important to each partner. Within one energy-sector partnership, for instance, the nonoperating partner was keen to understand how its local workforce would receive training over the course of the partnership. This company wanted to enhance the skills of the local workforce to create more opportunities for long-term employment in the region. The operating partner incorporated training and skill-evaluation metrics in the venture’s quarterly updates, thus improving the companies’ communication on the topic and explicitly acknowledging the importance of this point to its partner.

Invest in tools, processes, and personnel

Bringing different business cultures together can be challenging, given partners’ varying communication styles and expectations. The good news is that there are a range of tools—among them, financial models, key performance indicators, playbooks, and portfolio reviews—companies can use to help bridge any gaps. And not all these interventions are technology dependent. Some companies simply standardize the format of partnership meetings and agendas so that teams know what to expect. Others follow stringent reporting requirements.

Another good move is to convene an alliance-management team. This group tracks and reviews the partnership’s progress against defined metrics and helps to spot potential areas of concern—ideally with enough time to change course. Such teams take different forms. One pharmaceutical company with dozens of commercial and research partnerships has a nine-member alliance-management team charged mostly with monitoring and flagging potential issues for business-unit leaders, so it consists of primarily junior members and one senior leader who interacts directly with partners. An energy company with four large-scale joint ventures has taken a different approach: its alliance-management team comprises four people, but each is an experienced business leader who can serve as a resource for the respective joint-venture-leadership teams.

Sometimes partnerships need a structural shake-up—and not just as an act of last resort.

How companies structure these teams depends on concrete factors—the number and complexity of the partnerships, for instance—as well as intangibles like executive support for alliances and joint ventures and the experiences and capabilities of the individuals who would make up the alliance-management team.

Emphasize accountability and metrics

Good governance is the linchpin for successful partnerships; as such, it is critical that senior executives from the partner organizations remain involved in oversight of the partnership. At the very least, each partner should assign a senior line executive from the company to be “deal sponsor”—someone who can keep operations leaders and alliance managers focused on priorities, advocate for resources when needed, and generally create an environment in which everyone can act with more confidence and coordination.

Additionally, the partners must define “success” for their operations teams: What metrics will they use to determine whether they have hit their goals, and how will they track them? Some companies have built responsibility matrices; others have used detailed process maps or project stage gates to clarify expectations, timelines, and critical performance measures. When partnerships are initially formed, it is usually the business-development teams that are responsible for building the case for the deal and identifying the value that may be created for both sides. As the partnership evolves, the operations teams must take over this task, but they will need ongoing guidance from senior leaders in the partner organizations.

Build a dynamic partnership

Sometimes partnerships need a structural shake-up—and not just as an act of last resort. For instance, it might be less critical to revisit the structure of a partnership in which both sides are focused on joint commercialization of complementary products than it would be for a partnership focused on the joint development of a set of new technologies. But there are some basic rules of thumb for considering changes in partnership structure.

Partner organizations must acknowledge that the scope of the relationship is likely to shift over time. This will be the case whether the partners are in a single- or multiasset venture, expect that services will be shared, anticipate expansion, or have any geographic, regulatory, or structural complexities. Accepting the inevitable will encourage partners to plan more carefully at the outset. For example, during negotiations, the partners in a pharmaceutical partnership determined that they had different views on future demand for drugs in development. This wasn’t a deal breaker, however. Instead, the partners designated a formula by which financial flows would be evaluated at specific intervals to address any changes in expected performance. This allowed the partners to adjust the partnership based on changes in market demand or the emergence of new products. All changes could be incorporated fairly into the financial splits of the partnership.

Avoiding blind spots in your next joint venture

Partners should also consider the potential for restructuring during the negotiation process—ideally framing the potential endgame for the relationship. What market shifts might occur, how might that affect both sides’ interests and incentives, and what mechanisms would allow for orderly restructuring? When one oil and gas joint venture began struggling, the joint-venture leader realized he was being pulled in opposing directions by the two partner companies because of the companies’ conflicting incentives. “It made the alliance completely unstable,” he told us. He brought the partners back to the negotiation table to determine how to reconcile these conflicting incentives, restructure their agreement, and continue the relationship, thus avoiding deep resentment and frustration on both sides of the deal.

Such dialogues about the partnership’s future, while potentially stressful, should be conducted regularly—at least annually.

The implementation of these four principles requires some forethought and care. Every relationship comes with its own idiosyncrasies, after all, depending on industry, geography, previous experience, and strategy. Managing relationships outside of developed markets, for instance, can present additional challenges involving local cultures, integration norms, and regulatory complexities. Even in these emerging-market deals, however, the principles can serve as effective prerequisites for initiating discussions about how to change long-standing practices and mind-sets.

An emphasis on clarity, proactive management, accountability, and agility can not only extend the life span of a partnership or joint venture but also help companies build the capability to establish more of them—and, in the process, create outsize value and productivity in their organizations.

Ruth De Backer is a partner in McKinsey’s New York office, where Eileen Kelly Rinaudo is a senior expert.

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Understanding Key Partners: Real-World Examples

Understanding key partners is important for any business strategy. Strong relationships with other businesses can lead to mutual success.

In this article, we will explore real-world examples of successful partnerships and their benefits. These examples will help us understand the importance of choosing the right partners and how they contribute to business success.

What are Key Partners in a Business?

Key partner types.

Businesses often establish relationships with key partners through strategic alliances, supplier relationships, joint ventures, and co-opetition. These partnerships contribute to a company’s success by optimizing resources, reducing risks, and acquiring necessary resources.

Strategic alliances provide access to markets and technologies, while supplier relationships ensure efficient resource management. Joint ventures allow sharing of risks and costs for large projects, and co-opetition fosters collaboration and competition simultaneously.

Partnerships strengthen business models , reduce risk, and provide valuable resources. They benefit both parties by offering mutual advantages, such as access to new markets, technology, or strategic guidance, and by sharing risks and costs.

Clear expectations, customer impact evaluation, and appropriate agreement terms are crucial in sustaining these partnerships and ensuring mutual benefits for the involved parties.

Strategic Alliance Partners

When looking for strategic alliance partners, businesses should consider the following:

• The partner’s ability to complement existing resources, expertise, or skills
• Their potential to contribute to reaching important business objectives and customer needs

It’s important to manage and maintain relationships with clear communication , aligned goals, and continuous performance evaluation. Strategic alliance partnerships offer benefits like access to new markets, resources, and technologies, as well as risk reduction through shared responsibilities and costs.

But, there are potential risks to consider, including conflicts of interest, loss of control, and dependency on the partner’s performance. Therefore, a well-defined and mutually beneficial partnership agreement is essential for successful strategic alliances.

Supplier Relationships

Businesses can build and maintain strong supplier relationships by using strategies like open communication, transparency, and trust. This can lead to mutual success through effective collaboration, setting clear expectations, and aligning goals with suppliers.

To measure the success and impact of supplier relationships, businesses can track key performance indicators, conduct regular performance reviews, and gather feedback from all involved parties. These metrics can include cost savings, timely delivery, quality of goods or services, and overall satisfaction.

Emphasizing these strategies can help businesses create sustainable and beneficial partnerships with their suppliers, ultimately optimizing resources and reducing risks.

Joint Ventures

Joint ventures allow businesses to share resources, expertise, and risks, leading to increased profitability and market reach. However, they also carry the risk of disagreements and potential loss of control. Identifying suitable partners involves evaluating compatibility, expertise, financial stability, and strategic goals. Businesses should also consider the partner’s customer base and organizational culture.

When forming a joint venture agreement, factors such as control division, decision-making processes, conflict resolution, and exit strategies should be carefully evaluated.

Additionally, the agreement should specify contributions, profit allocation, and intellectual property protection. The success of a joint venture relies on considering these factors and communicating clearly between partners.

Co-op Competition

Co-opetition involves both cooperation and competition between businesses. They collaborate on certain projects or aspects while still competing in other areas. This approach differs from traditional competition. It allows businesses to leverage each other’s strengths to achieve mutual benefits while maintaining their competitive edge .

The potential benefits of co-opetition include:

• Access to new markets
• Resource sharing
• Cost reduction

However, it also comes with the risk of:

• Sharing sensitive information with competitors
• Potential conflicts of interest

To effectively navigate the complexities of co-opetition, businesses need to:

• Establish clear boundaries
• Communicate openly
• Develop mutually beneficial agreements

By doing so, they can achieve differentiation in the market and mutual success while minimizing the negative impacts of competition.

Real Companies and Their Key Partners

Apple’s business allies.

Apple works with other businesses through strategic alliances like joint ventures, coopetition, and buyer-supplier relationships. These partnerships have helped Apple succeed by optimizing resources, reducing risks, and acquiring necessary resources. Also, Apple’s relationships with suppliers and key partners have helped cut costs, share risks, and access essential components and technologies.

These alliances have strengthened Apple’s market position, streamlined its supply chain, and enabled the development of innovative products and services. Consequently, Apple has thrived in a competitive business environment.

Airbnb’s Network of Partners

Airbnb works with different types of partners such as hospitality companies, real estate developers, and technology firms. They also partner with businesses for services like cleaning and furnishing to ensure quality.

The company also collaborates with competitors through joint ventures and co-opetition to enter new markets.

These partnerships help Airbnb optimize resources, reduce risks, and deliver value to customers, contributing to its success in a competitive environment.

E-commerce Giants and Their Suppliers

E-commerce giants carefully choose their suppliers based on a few important factors. These factors include reliability, cost, quality, and consistency. Creating strategic alliances, joint ventures, or coopetition relationships, e-commerce giants and their suppliers work together to gain mutual benefits and competitive advantages. These collaborations lead to better efficiencies, smoother supply chains, and happier customers.

Successful partnerships can be seen in various industries like technology, retail, and logistics. These partnerships have greatly contributed to the success of e-commerce giants, providing access to advanced technology, faster delivery, and improved product offerings. These partnerships are essential in fostering innovation, driving growth, and creating a sustainable competitive edge.

Ride-Sharing Services’ Partnership Networks

Ride-sharing services have various types of partnerships, such as strategic alliances, joint-ventures, coopetition, and buyer-supplier relationships. These partnerships help them to benefit from shared resources, reduced costs, and increased market access. Ride-sharing services also leverage their partners’ expertise in areas like technology, fleet management, and regulatory compliance.

This helps them to reduce costs, share risks and rewards, and gain access to essential resources and capabilities.

Health-Tech Firms and Strategic Relationships

Health-tech firms benefit when they partner with key industry players. These partnerships give them access to specialized knowledge, technical expertise, and necessary resources. They also help reduce risks and costs related to research and development.

These relationships are important for driving innovation, expanding market reach, and achieving sustainable growth in a competitive industry. Successful alliances and partnerships in the health-tech sector involve collaborations between pharmaceutical companies and clinical research organizations, software developers and healthcare providers, and medical device manufacturers and academic institutions.

These partnerships enable firms to pool their resources, share insights, and leverage each other’s strengths to address complex challenges and meet the evolving needs of the healthcare market. The primary reasons for health-tech firms to engage in partnerships include enhancing product development capabilities, accessing new markets and customer segments, and accelerating innovation and commercialization within the industry.

Why Businesses Make Partnerships

Cutting costs by partnering up.

Businesses can work together strategically by partnering with external companies, suppliers, or other parties. This helps streamline their activities and deliver value to customers. They can form alliances, joint-ventures, co-opetition, or buyer-supplier relationships to optimize resources, reduce costs, and minimize operational expenses. These partnerships also allow businesses to share risks and rewards, leading to a more balanced and sustainable growth.

Sharing Risks and Rewards

Sharing risks and rewards in business partnerships has many benefits. It helps to reduce risk, optimize costs, and access additional resources and expertise. When partners share risks and rewards, they combine their resources and distribute potential losses and gains. This creates a more balanced approach to collaboration. To ensure fair distribution, businesses should set clear expectations, communicate openly, and define agreed-upon metrics for evaluating customer impact.

They can also use risk assessment tools and financial models. Effective strategies include regular partnership assessments, defining exit strategies, setting up contingency plans, and resolving disputes. Open communication and building trust are crucial for long-term successful relationships.

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Leadership / Partnership Development / Sustainable Impact

What Is Partnership Development?

April 16, 2023 6 minute read

By Cara Hayes

As companies and organizations embark on commitments and initiatives to address sustainability , ESG , UNSDGs , and wicked problems like biodiversity loss , and climate change, it becomes more and more obvious there are some problems you simply cannot solve alone.  And that's where partnerships come in.  Partnerships allow two or more organizations to combine their strengths, resources, perspective, knowledge, networks, and reach to solve a shared challenge or seize a new opportunity effectively. 

There are many ways to partner. In our nearly two decades as an implementer in global development initiatives, and in our growing work with private sector companies , it is increasingly more obvious we   need collaboration to solve our most pressing global challenges. This is true across every sector.

  Indeed, nearly nine in ten executives surveyed by Harvard Business Review agree that partnership development, whether internally as cross-functional collaboration, or external with partners, is essential to keep up with changing business models in times of unpredictable, breakpoint change . At Resonance, we focus on partnerships for sustainable impact . We help companies build pre-competitive and cross-sector partnerships to advance sustainable supply chains , achieve impact targets, and unlock new markets. And through this work, we know that process is key. In other words, HOW you go about approaching strategic partnership development and managing new collaboration can have tremendous implications for deliverables, outcomes, and ultimate impact.

Let's tend to some critical definitions as part of outlining the partnership development process and its five stages. 

What Is Partnership Development? 

Partnership development is the process of identifying, vetting, launching, and managing a mutually beneficial partnership between two or more organizations.

As organizations set their sights on building more ethical supply chains that mirror their corporate sustainability priorities, engaging in strategic partnership development has become a priority. In fact some companies are hiring partnership specialists or partnership managers to design and carry out strategic partnership development, while others are embedding social enterprises directly within their existing supply and value chains (to promote greater Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) across the organization , for example).

When strategic in nature and innovative in design, a comprehensive and dynamic partnership process can help organizations achieve mutually beneficial outcomes. We have found a planned and phased approach is needed for partnerships to build the necessary foundation in order for subsequent stages to flourish.

Below, we show you how to succeed across each phase of partnership development –from problem and partner identification–through launch and management of partnership projects.

What Are the Five Stages of Partnership Development?

From initial strategy to scaling impact, here are the five stages of partnership development:

1. Scoping and Partnership Strategy Development

Before you can create a successful partnership, you need to develop a clear strategy. There is a great deal of advice on how to start. Dr. John Bryson,  McKnight Presidential Professor Emeritus at the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the  University of Minnesota was a prolific researcher and author on partnership development. Much of his work focused on strategic partnership development and planning across sectors. The value of his books and articles remains today the emphasis on practitioner insights and what is critical in the design of a partnership process.  A well-established partnership strategy defines the problem you seek to solve, lays the groundwork for internal buy-in and commitment, and maps your team’s key assets and gaps. 

Central to strategic partnership development, notes Bryson, is to first ensure there is a clear advantage to be gained by collaborating. This means making sure collaborators can gain something significant together that they could not achieve alone.  He also notes how critical it is to start as much as possible with the ends in mind, and designing the partnership process, structures, and interactions in such a way that outcomes are far more likely to be achieved.  Although there may be many organizational-specific outputs at this stage, the most foundational for successful partnership development in this beginning partnership strategy phase include:

• Partnership problem statement 
• Map of core organizational goals and KPIs for key teams, relevant to the partnership problem statement
• List of target markets and geographies for partnership 
• Map of organizational assets and gaps for partnership
• An established process of Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL)

2. Partnership Opportunity Mapping

Developing a successful partnership with multiple stakeholders is an emergent process that requires effort, resources, and time (collaboration does not happen overnight).

In many instances, p artnerships based on pre-existing relationships can be successful, particularly when needs are immediate. With existing partners, there is already an established level of trust and familiarty that can aid in resolving conflicts when they arise and sustaining the partnership long-term. However, sometimes the nature of the problem itself, specific needs, and identified gaps from the first strategy phase in the partnership process conclude a new or expanded partnership is necessary.  There are a vast number of potential partners out there–and most of them are probably unknown to you. It is important that the right partners are chosen. As Resonance co-founder Steve Schmida writes in his recent book, Partner with a Purpose , it may be beneficial to seek out a handful of experts who can describe the type of organizations that are impacted by the problem you have delineated and may already be working to solve it. His advice? "Go broad rather than deep."  This means looking at an array of organizations - other companies, nonprofits, NGOs, government agencies, foundations, civic groups, academic and research organizations, activist organizations, religious and community groups. He additionally details potential partners by type, as well as pros and cons characteristically of each.   Broad criteria to consider when seeking partners include not only expertise, but availability of compatible and complementary resources, commitment to outcomes, even if goals for participation differ, reputation among targeted stakeholders, and compatible interests, among others. 

By tapping into local and global networks and using tools like systems thinking, you stand a better chance of connecting with organizations that have the motivation and capabilities to partner effectively. 

Key outputs for partnership opportunity mapping include:

• Partner landscape assessment
• Prioritized list of partnership concepts and potential partners

3. Partnership Design and Facilitation 

A true strategic partnership is shared from the ground up. That means working together to co-design a partnership business model that leverages each partner’s interests and strengths to effectively achieve shared goals.

An experienced third-party moderator can help set the stage for success, by helping partners build trust, retain focus, and address organizational or personnel conflicts before they become deal-breakers.

This is an ideal phase in strategic partnership development where partners examine and adopt a Theory of Change (TOC) that will, like a compass, guide partners through the change process together, as well as in their own organizations.

According to the Center for Theory of Change,

"TOC is essentially a comprehensive description and illustration of how and why a desired change is expected to happen in a particular context. It is focused in particular on mapping out or “filling in” what has been described as the “missing middle” between what a program or change initiative does (its activities or interventions) and how these lead to desired goals being achieved. It does this by first identifying the desired long-term goals and then works back from these to identify all the conditions (outcomes) that must be in place (and how these related to one another causally) for the goals to occur. These are all mapped out in an Outcomes Framework.” 

Not only is partnership development shared from the ground up, some advise in this phase a process of "working backwards." Borrowing from TOC, a backwards mapping process structures planning and design by initially identifying SEE conditions (social, economic, and environmental) the partnership intends to create. Then through deliberate questioning and healthy debate, backwards mapping provides opportunities for partners to jointly define expectations, assumptions, and features of the partnership development and change processes that are important for goal and outcome attainment. 

 Key outputs for the partnership design and facilitation phase include:

• Co-creation process or workshop
• Partnership concept paper (with key goals, activities, and roles and responsibilities)
• Signed partnership agreement

4. Adaptive Management and Implementation

Partners can put out a well-written press release announcing their new partnership–but still come up short when it’s time to actually do the work. It’s crucial to think through partnership roles and responsibilities and match tasks to timelines. 

In 2020, the United Nations published The SDG Partnership Guidebook , a practical guide to building high impact multi-stakeholder partnerships for the Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) . It describes this phase as a critical one the stage in which the "rubber meets the road," which is often when partnership failure occurs if not ideally managed.  Partners should understand at the onset that partnering is rarely smooth sailing and gales are likely. Implementation challenges become evident at this stage and management can be difficult. Progress on partnership goals may be slow, frustration may ensue due to organizational cultural differences, and there may be internal pushback and even disengagement by one or more partners.  However, this is considered normal, and with a strong process in place for communication that provides trust, transparency, and equity among partners to raise and address issues can be a healthy juncture in partnership development.   Partners should communicate often, report on progress regularly, empower key team members, be mindful of mutual benefits for all partners, and prioritize strong, adaptive partnership management . Key outputs for the partnership implementation phase include:

• Collaborative annual (or quarterly) partnership activity plans
• Impact monitoring metrics and plan
• Communications and reporting plan

5. Scaling and Sustaining Impact

From the very start, you should be thinking about what comes next for partnership sustainability and scale . This can look quite different depending on what your partnership set out to achieve. But the key question is: What would it take to grow our impact and make it last? There are a number of key factors that should be considered at this phase if continuation of efforts is a shared goal. Partners must assess capacity long-term for ongoing support and participation, the extent of organizational leadership and buy-in, whether through learning there are adjustments that should be made, or even pivots that take the partnership in a new direction, and whether new goals and outcomes must be defined.  

Key outputs include:

• Partnership sustainability plan
• Map of pathways to scale, and corresponding action plan

Leveraging Partnership Development to Solve Shared Problems

One of the dominant themes emerging from COP27 held in Egypt in November 2022 was the admittance that our global challenges are complex, the need for solutions is immediate, and no one organization can solve them alone. 

Collaboration with other businesses, foundations, NGOs, and donors will be essential to addressing 21st-century  business problems like climate change, sustainable development goals , biodiversity commitments , and significant supply chain disruption. By taking the time and resources to develop a strategy and a comprehensive partnership process, stakeholders stand a better chance of partnering with impact. 

To guide them on their way, cross-sector changemakers should consult with experienced partnership development experts to learn how they can leverage collaboration to solve pressing problems and create sustainable impact.

Editor’s Note: This post has been updated for accuracy and current best practices.

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The power of partnerships: Why businesses are better together

This article was published more than 6 years ago. Some information may no longer be current.

President, PayPal Canada.

There is no better approach to solving challenges than the famous saying "two heads are better than one." Whether creating internal partnerships between colleagues or departments, to larger partnerships between businesses, harnessing the strengths and abilities of others from different corners of your ecosystem is one of the most strategic ways for businesses to scale their innovation and solve complex challenges. In today's fast-paced environment, a "do-it-alone" approach is not the best strategy for growth. Companies that initially grew organically need to look for new ways to drive collaborative innovation that delivers on what their customers need today – and in the future.

Collaboration and strategic partnerships are fundamental to improving business outcomes. I've worked in the payments industry for more than 20 years – first at American Express and now at PayPal Canada – and have struck more than 50 major partnerships and strategic alliances that brought innovation and improved offerings to customers.

Strategic partnerships benefit everyone: businesses, employees and customers. Businesses can broaden their relevance and increase their addressable market; customers benefit from the strengths and offerings each organization brings to the table; and employees can expand their development opportunities by being exposed to new perspectives and expertise. Plus, deepening ties between complementary businesses fosters collaboration and longevity, and allows companies to offer services and solutions that help their customers and other businesses become more successful.

The fintech ecosystem has seen this happen over the past few years. Traditional organizations such as big banks and government agencies are partnering with newer players, startups and entrepreneurs. At PayPal, we've embraced a partnership approach wholeheartedly – from the top of the organization to the bottom. Since we separated from eBay as an independently listed company in 2015, we have been focused on forging partnerships with leaders across the financial and technology industries to expand our services, increase conversion for our merchants, create better experiences and give our consumers the flexibility, security and speed that digital payments offer.

Some organizations may be resistant to partnering with a company that competes with them for customers or profits, and some employees may not feel the need to collaborate internally in new or unexpected ways. The reality of today's business landscape, however, means that partnerships are key to better serving customers by merging talent, expertise, technology and purpose. While the rewards are great, strategic partnerships require thoughtful consideration to ensure success is achieved.

Identify the gap and opportunity

I've seen the greatest success when opportunity drives collaboration. Partners – whether internal or external – need to first identify the specific challenge they can solve. Look at your customers and consider what their pain points are, what worries them or what would help accelerate their growth. For employees, think outside the box to find unexpected expertise. Could your finance team bring unexpected insight to a financial product you are developing? For business to business relations, do you share customers with other businesses? What issues do your shared customers face? Can you work together to achieve common success? Sometimes the best ideas come from combined solutions from different perspectives.

Work toward a common goal

Any partnership, big or small, will work best when there is a shared goal. Establishing a common purpose sets the foundation and acts as the glue to holding the partnership together. Earlier this year, PayPal Canada developed a strategic collaboration with Canada Post. We saw that our existing customers lacked a seamless payment and shipping solution and were wasting precious hours that could have been spent growing their business. In Canada Post, we found the best partner to launch a convenient, easy-to-use shipping and payment solution for small businesses that saves time and money. The partnership was built on that fact that we both shared a common goal of helping small businesses grow their operations and harness e-commerce as part of their business strategy. Throughout the partnership, we kept this shared goal as our North Star, and our employees were motivated and excited to create an experience that would positively affect our customers.

Lean into each other's strengths

Strategic partnerships enable teams to bring the best of their talent and strengths forward. Every person and every business has unique strengths, so honing your partnership strategy to play to those strengths will let you shine. It's rewarding to see how doing so generates functional and creative solutions. We regularly partner with teams internally across geographies to learn from their expertise and apply key learnings to our own market.

When the Toronto Parking Authority launched the Green P Parking app to enable Torontonians to pay for parking from their mobile phone, we teamed up with them to add PayPal as a payment option and promote it across our customer base. The Toronto Parking Authority team excelled in understanding everything to do with parking and we brought expertise in providing a seamless mobile payment experience and marketing skills to drive increased usage.

Communication is key

For a partnership to succeed, an emphasis on clear communication between partners is essential. Leverage internal communication and collaboration channels when working on partnerships within your organization. For external partnerships, in-person meetings can go a long way in developing a solid working rapport. Open and effective channels of communication between members of the partnership or alliance will ensure there are no misaligned expectations between parties.

Big breakthroughs and progress can't happen in silos. Working collaboratively with partners – within an organization as well as within your ecosystem to solve business problems – generates the kind of energy that fuels growth, innovation and creativity. Developing value-aligned partnerships that focus on common goals and complementary strengths is key to ensuring successful outcomes for all.

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Partnership marketing — what it is, why it’s so popular, and how to do it

Partnership marketing is one of the best ways to reach new audiences, build business relationships, and boost revenue. A survey by DemandGen showed 96% of businesses expected an annual revenue increase directly linked to marketing initiatives within their partner networks.

There are many ways to build marketing partnerships with companies and individuals. This guide will help you understand:

• What partnership marketing is

The benefits of partner marketing

11 types of partnership marketing, partner marketing tips, examples of successful partnership marketing, what is partnership marketing.

Partnership marketing, also called partner marketing, is a strategic collaboration between two parties — typically two businesses or a business and a public figure. The purpose of partner marketing is to reach mutually beneficial marketing goals such as growing an audience on a new platform, growing brand awareness in a specific demographic, attracting new customers, or strengthening existing customer loyalty.

Partner marketing is a popular strategy across industries. Every business partnership will bring unique advantages to the parties involved, but there are a few universal benefits.

• Access to new customers. Teaming up gives your business access to the other business’s curated audience. The increased visibility leads to a higher probability of conversions.
• Cost-effective marketing. Partnering extends your marketing budget and capability, because you benefit from the expertise and resources of another business. Suppose one business’s strength is social media advertising and another’s is email campaigns. The two can pool resources to create a marketing strategy that reaches audiences through both mediums.
• Reduced risks. Collaborating with a brand that has already proven successful minimizes your risks and helps you avoid pitfalls associated with new ventures.
• Greater customer trust. Partnering with a brand that has an excellent reputation inspires potential customers to associate your brand with high-quality goods and services. That audience may be keener to trust your brand because of your affiliation with your partner, who has already earned customer loyalty.

Marketing partnerships can take various forms. Some are more public-facing, working directly with customers, while others work primarily behind the scenes. Here are the most common forms of partner marketing and what they look like in practice.

1. Affiliate marketing and ambassador programs

Setting up an affiliate marketing program or an ambassador program can generate a lot of buzz around your brand without all the overhead of a traditional marketing campaign. These programs take advantage of influencer marketing strengths to impact social media audiences.

• Affiliate marketing is when a company partners with a content creator — like a blogger or YouTuber — who promotes a product in return for a commission. For instance, a blogger could review affordable Bluetooth speakers and include an Amazon affiliate link. When readers click and buy, the blogger earns a small percentage of the sale.
• Ambassador programs involve more exclusive relationships with individuals who share a brand’s products with their audiences online and off. Fashion companies like Aerie lead successful ambassador programs, partnering with a few hundred social media influencers who create posts on Instagram and TikTok to show off the brand’s clothing and accessories.

Affiliate marketing and ambassador programs are offered to content creators for free, but affiliates don’t get paid until they make a sale. This arrangement provides a cost-effective way for a company to branch out on social media.

2. Distribution partnerships

A distribution partnership gives your brand access to the distribution channels that another company has already built, to get your product into the hands of more people.

One form of this partnership is to pay a larger distributor like Amazon or Walmart for space in their stores or warehouses. But distribution partners can also be wholesalers, brokers, sales agents, or businesses like yours with the same audience. Here are some examples.

• Reselling . A discount furniture outlet purchases unsold items from retailers at wholesale prices. Then they resell the furniture below the original retail price.
• Bundling . Two software companies offer a package deal for customers interested in buying both of their products.
• Cross-promotion . Two brands host a joint giveaway on social media where people must follow and like posts from both brands to qualify. Winners receive a gift package with products from both companies.

3. Referral partnerships

Every good salesperson knows the value of a referral. According to Invespcro , customers who learn about your brand through other customers have a 37% higher retention rate and are four times more likely to recommend your brand to others.

In a referral partnership, one business consistently recommends another business to its customers. This team effort creates a referral pipeline, where loyal customers of one company visit and eventually become patrons of the other business.

For instance, a physical therapy clinic could partner with another company’s health app by recommending the app to patients. The app company would gain access to a more targeted audience and likely convert more new users into paying customers. In exchange, the clinic would receive a cut of the profits.

Unlike affiliate programs, the relationship you develop with your referral partners is not strictly transactional and requires more nurturing. Call or email them often and ask how you can benefit them. These can be invaluable partnerships, so be willing to invest in them long-term.

4. Loyalty programs

Loyalty and rewards programs are partnerships established directly with customers that help build customer relationships and incentivize them to keep buying your products or services. They work well in both retail and ecommerce settings to increase brand engagement and win the hearts of your buyers.

A business can give out points, coupons, or exclusive access to repeat customers as a reward for shopping. Here are some real-life examples.

• Dutch Bros Rewards lets customers earn points toward free drinks.
• The ALDO Crew loyalty program offers coupons, birthday treats, exclusive deals, and early access to special seasonal clothing collections.
• The Marriott Bonvoy tiered benefits program raises qualifying customers through several levels from simple member status all the way to Ambassador Elite.

5. Sponsorships

Events provide a wide-reaching opportunity to market to the masses. That’s why company logos are everywhere at sports games. A sponsor relationship allows a business to pay an event organizing committee to advertise its brand in a public space.

Some sponsorships are enormous and last through a series of events — like Coca-Cola at the Olympics. If you’re on a budget, you can sponsor something small. Consider these examples:

• An ice cream company sponsors a county fair where they give away ice cream.
• A local bank sponsors a 5K race in their town and has their logo displayed on the back of runners’ t-shirts.
• A hospital sponsors a youth theater production and places its logo on the back of the show program.

Sponsorships are one of the most direct ways to court customers. At events, people will notice your brand’s status as a sponsor. This publicity gets people talking and generates leads based on word-of-mouth advertising.

6. Licensing

A licensing partnership is another great investment for extending your marketing with a smaller investment. A licensing partnership enables one brand to use another’s intellectual property — content, branding, patents, or trademarked goods — in exchange for a flat fee or royalty. Licensing can give you access to more products and brand recognition that you can generate organically.

Starbucks kiosks inside Target are part of a long-running licensing deal between the two corporations. Target licenses Starbucks’ logo, menu, and retail items to draw in customers familiar with the coffee chain.

Licensing comics or cartoon characters is a strategy many businesses use. For example, LEGO licenses Star Wars characters for many of its toy sets.

Consider networking with similarly sized companies that operate in adjacent fields. Licensing their content could help you branch out to new audiences or excite your current customers with new offerings.

7. Co-branding and affinity marketing

Brand recognition goes a long way. Two popular brands collaborating and putting their names on a new product can supercharge sales. Co-branding partnerships allow two companies to put collaborative resources behind a new product they market together.

Here are a couple of examples.

• Nike and Apple collaborated on the Apple Watch Nike+ to court customers from both brands’ loyal fanbases.
• Crocs creates limited-edition shoes in collaboration with celebrities and companies such as Justin Bieber, 7/11, and Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Affinity marketing is more or less the same as co-branding. Two companies team up to capture a niche market with an affinity for both brands. The partnership strengthens both. If you can narrow down a niche group loyal to your company and your potential partner, co-branding a new product together could be a win-win.

8. Joint ventures

Joint ventures are a way business partners share their skills and resources to create a mutually beneficial project and enter a new market more quickly. They share profits based on their ownership and responsibility in the business. For example:

• Amazon and EV-startup Rivian partnered to create electric vehicles for Amazon’s delivery fleet.
• Hulu was created as a joint venture between News Corporation, NBCUniversal, and later Disney to break into the video streaming market.

Joint ventures can also benefit companies looking to reach customers in a new location. Picture a mobile fireworks stand partnering to share a corner lot with a barbeque restaurant on the Fourth of July. Businesses that have similar goals and wield an edge among customers in a specific region or market make the best partners for joint ventures.

9. Product placement

Perhaps the most recognizable example of product placement is the presence of branding in TV shows and movies. You’ve probably noticed when beverage companies, automotive brands, and fashion retailers flash their logos on set.

Product placement is a subtle form of advertising where one partner pays another to embed their products in visual media. This method helps naturally build brand recognition and popularity without being too pushy.

On a smaller scale, companies can pay content creators on YouTube or Instagram to use their products in a video — even if the product is not the topic of that content.

10. Channel partnerships and resellers

Building a B2C brand comes with many hurdles, but you can avoid some of them through a channel partnership or reseller. These partnerships allow smaller brands to sell through larger companies with more name recognition and a steady customer base.

• A channel partnership is an agreement for one brand to distribute, resell, manage, or deliver products from another firm through their channels. Think of a grocery store purchasing wholesale dairy products from a farm. The store will market the products under a generic brand name familiar to customers. The farmer doesn’t have to build a B2C brand and the store doesn’t have to produce the dairy.
• Resellers operate very similarly. They buy a product from a business partner, make minor changes, and then use their existing channels for marketing the product under their unique brand name.

Consider a channel or reseller partnership if you want to focus on product creation more than B2C marketing. It’s a shortcut to selling your product to the masses with ease and a certain degree of anonymity.

11. Nonprofit partnerships

Partnerships between for-profit and nonprofit organizations are often a win-win. Their shared goals and values can be the glue to bind a long standing relationship within a community.

For example, an advertising agency might partner with a local hospital and help raise money for medical research. The corporate partner could host events and fundraising drives and incentivize volunteer work to get employees involved.

It’s a massive benefit for nonprofits to have corporate support. And teaming up with a nonprofit can help businesses increase brand recognition and trust.

The best marketing partnership for your business will depend on your industry and goals. But there are a few ground rules to starting any new partnership that can make or break your success.

Select the right partners

Choose partners who will treat the partnership as a team effort. Finding companies with similar goals and marketing strategies can help you narrow down which type of partnership best suits your shared ambitions.

The right partner doesn’t have to work in the same industry, but their goals and expertise should complement yours. The partnership should enhance your current marketing strategies, not hinder your progress.

Locating potential partners can start with a quick Google search or scrolling social media to find like-minded business owners. In-person networking events, such as trade shows and conventions, can also present opportunities. Reach out for an initial meeting to decide if joining forces could lead to a productive partnership.

Establish clear expectations from the beginning

After you find a marketing partner, determining mutual expectations should be first on your to-do list. A conversation about what you both want from the partnership can help avert disappointment and encourage clear and honest communication.

Write down your goals and expectations. A written document is a useful guide as the partnership grows and helps evenly divide up the work.

Here are some essential expectations to include:

• The responsibilities of each partner
• Timeframes for meeting goals
• What to do if either party hits a roadblock

Set measurable goals

Make sure your goals and expectations are measurable. Document your benchmarks and what metrics best demonstrate success.

For example, ask how many new leads each business expects to gain by the end of every quarter. Make a note of your expected conversion rate or profit margin.

Your shared goals should also mesh well with your internal business goals and revenue expectations. Setting up a marketing partnership should never drain your resources. It should give each business new momentum to reach strategic milestones.

Track your progress while you kick off your first campaign and as the partnership develops over months and years.

Support and reward good partners

Embarking on a new collaboration can be frustrating as both businesses establish new processes and routines. Fostering a positive relationship and working through early struggles together is vital for long-term success.

Keep communication open with regular check-ins. Celebrate successes by hosting joint company outings or offering monetary bonuses to employees who go above and beyond to generate revenue through the partnership.

Finally, remember the golden rule and treat your business partner as you would have them treat you. Even while it seems your partner may be slacking, if you honor your commitment, you will maintain trust with both them and your customers.

Partner marketing is everywhere. Companies big and small benefit from partnership marketing as a way to branch out to new audiences, build corporate relationships and increase revenue. Here are three prominent examples.

Walmart and ThreadUp

The resale app ThreadUp has a channel partnership with Walmart to sell secondhand items on the big box retailer’s website. ThreadUp gets access to a huge customer base, while Walmart profits from access to a more extensive inventory and a pool of younger customers who are familiar with ThreadUp and the trendy second hand resale market.

Google and Fiat Chrysler

In a giant joint venture, Google and Fiat Chrysler (FCA) — two very different companies with unique products and markets — partnered to develop self-driving cars. Together they launched the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivan fitted with Google automation equipment. Because of this partnership, FCA has spent relatively little on self-driving vehicle technology and Google has broken into the auto industry.

Netflix and Sony

Netflix has an exclusive licensing deal with Sony for their movie rights after they appear in theaters. These partnerships are widespread among streaming platforms, as securing exclusive rights is often key to drawing in new subscribers. For production companies, these lucrative deals often bring in large chunks of revenue.

Get started with partner marketing

The ubiquity of marketing partnerships across industries is a testament to their value. They’re a great way for businesses to reach new audiences and optimize their marketing ROI. Many types of partnerships could be a good fit, depending on your goals and who you choose as your partner.

If you want to start with partner marketing, knowing your goals, keeping your plans organized, and tracking your progress are all key components of long-term success.

Adobe Marketo Engage can help you keep partnership marketing relationships and campaigns organized and on track. With a full suite of B2B sales tools, Marketo Engage manages leads, automates marketing tasks, identifies new audiences, and provides robust analytics to keep your goals in sight.

Watch the overview video or take a tour of Marketo Engage to learn how you can boost engagement and growth.

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The importance of Partnership in business

Category: Partnership .

The partnership is crucial to the growth of any business venture. Merchants and traders from time immemorial have made use of the principle of a strategic partnership to conduct their businesses; the trend is still very much applicable today. A partnership manifests itself in different forms, ranging from business owners cooperating to invest in a project to share technical knowledge and ideas between firms. Whatever any business does, it is important to look for the right partnership agreement that benefits both parties.

The greatest change in corporate culture-and the way business is being conducted-may be the accelerated growth of relationships based... on partnership. Peter Drucker

Factors to consider before choosing a partner:

It is great to form partnerships with other businesses! However, what any smart business owner must consider before signing on the dotted lines of a partnership agreement is that not all partnership agreements work out as planned. Some firms have generated massive problems for themselves by working with poorly-aligned partners that fail to bring anything to the table. You shouldn’t make the same mistake. To avoid potential pitfalls, consider the following 3 factors:

1. Trust and Respect

When starting a business, the secret to the success of every partnership agreement is rooted in trust and respect between the two partners. You must be able to trust the decision making, temperament, vision, and competence of your partner and vice versa. Make sure to respect one another’s abilities and personalities.

If people like you, they will listen to you. But if they trust you, they will do business with you. Zig Ziglar

2. Brand Alignment

Before starting a partnership, know exactly what each business does and how your brands align. Form an alliance which has a way of setting goals and simultaneously propagating the objectives of each business. For instance, the demand for the products of company A should be able to spark a chain reaction to drive up the demand for the products of company B and vice versa.

3. Similar Values and Shared Goals

It is important to form a partnership agreement with a firm whose corporate goals and values augment your own. There are firms whose main focus is to make a profit and maximize shareholders wealth, while others are more concerned about corporate social responsibility and puts profit making as a secondary objective. Partnering with a business that doesn’t share primary objectives may lead to a clash of values and risk driving a wedge between the firms. This will likely lead to the death of the agreement.

GOOGLE x LUXOTTICA

While partnerships have their difficulties, businesses can gain infinitely more when they choose to partake in strategic partnerships. A lot of businesses have leveraged on the distinct advantages that come with partnership to grow their businesses and take it to a higher level. No matter how successful your business is, the right partnership can take it to even greater heights.

Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people. Steve Jobs

A powerful example of how strategic partnership agreements can help your business attain greater heights is the partnership agreement between Google and Luxottica. Google is a tech company known globally for the efficiency of its search engine. Luxottica is very popular for their luxury and stylish eyewear that is more suited for fashionable audiences. Both firms decided to form a partnership to increase their sales, which led to the invention of Google glass. Looking for more reasons to grow your business?

5 BENEFITS OF STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP

1. Access to Knowledge

Firms need a wealth of knowledge and that knowledge comes in bounty with strategic partnership agreements. This gives you the opportunity to grow and learn from another’s perspective. All of the knowledge would be put into use to further build your brand and business in the future.

An Investment in knowledge pays the best interest Benjamin Franklin

2. Competitive Advantage

Partnerships increase your lease of knowledge, expertise, and resources available to make better products and reach a greater audience. All of these put together along with 360-degree feedback can skyrocket your business to great heights.

3. It Enhances Your Business’ Credibility and Image

The right business partnership will enhance the ethos of your firm. When firm that share the same goals and vision join forces, the influence and strength of each organization can grow dramatically. Stronger business provide better products and deliver more qualitative services to customers, which boosts overall brand equity.

Alone we can do so little; Together we can do so much. Helen Keller

4. It Increases Your Customer Base

Through a functional strategic partnership agreement, your business would grow its customer base. There are a lot of ways through which this can be attained. It could be through a direct agreement you have with a firm who offers products that are complementary to your own. A car manufacturer who forms a partnership agreement with a tire manufacturer may have an agreement in place that makes everyone who orders for a new car to get their tires from the firm they are in agreement with and vice versa. This alone would help you in growing your customer base as customers are drawn to great products and services.

5. Long Term Stability

The goal of all businesses is to remain relevant for a long time and reach its set corporate goals. Having business partners mean you are no longer operating in isolation. You’ll have access to more knowledge, innovation, expertise, and funds. The bottom line? A great business partnership makes you better, lifts up your weaknesses, and enhances your strengths. In the end, this is all you need to be relevant for a very long time and help your business achieve its objectives and key results.

Suffice is to say all businesses need to look for the perfect strategic partnership that complements their activities as it is a sure way to grow any business moving forward. If large multinational corporations like Google, Apple, Luxottica, and others still see the strategic partnership as a way to grow and expand their business horizons, then there should be no excuse for any business owner to not follow suit and reap the benefits that come with a well-aligned partnership.

How does OKR help with Strategic Partnership?

OKR is a “goal setting methodology” that helps organizations achieve ambitious goals by bringing together individuals, teams and the entire workforce, and guiding them in the same direction. Let’s go through an OKR example to get a clear understanding of how OKR works. Consider that you need to improve your company’s partnership base. This can be done by seeking advice from experts in the field, teaming up with consulting firms, and increasing the number of trade associations.

As you can see, the OKR methodology allows you to focus everyone’s efforts on what really matters and measure the performance of your team.

In general, people who have been in partnerships claim that it is difficult to maintain such agreements when objectives are not shared or clearly expressed. OKR solves this issue because it provides both parties with quantitative clarity, which leads to synergy and success.

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Agency and Partnership on the Multistate Essay Exam (MEE): Highly Tested Topics and Tips

Agency and partnership on the multistate essay exam: highly tested topics and tips.

Agency and Partnership are regularly tested on the MEE. The bar examiners often test the same issues, so it is worth knowing what these highly tested Agency and Partnership issues are.

Agency and Partnership on the Multistate Essay Exam

1. first, know how agency and partnership are tested.

Agency and Partnership are tested about once a year. Note that sometimes only Agency is tested and other times only Partnership is tested. Sometimes you will see a mixture of both Agency and Partnership principles tested on the MEE.

Agency is sometimes tested with other subjects, such as Torts.

The basic principles of Agency and Partnership tend to be tested on the MEE. Most MEE answers reference the Uniform Partnership Act (UPA) , the Revised Uniform Partnership Act (RUPA) , or the Restatement (Second) of Agency . If you took Agency and Partnership or Business Organizations in law school, the law you learned in your law school class should be very consistent with the law you are expected to apply on the MEE.

2. Be aware of the highly tested Agency and Partnership issues

The bar examiners tend to test several of the same issues repeatedly in Agency and Partnership questions. (We have a nice summary of these in our  MEE One-Sheets  if you want to see them in one place.)

Some of the highly tested Agency MEE issues include: 

• Actual authority: This is one of the bar examiners’ favorite issues to test. Be prepared to write on an actual authority question, “Actual authority can be express ,  where the agent is expressly given authority to act for the principal. It can also be  implied . Implied authority is present when the principal’s conduct leads the agent to believe that the agent has authority .

• Apparent authority: This is another very highly tested issue. Apparent authority exists when the person dealing with the agent does so with a  reasonable belief in the agent’s authority , and that belief is generated by some act or neglect on the part of the  principal . “

• Principles of vicarious and direct liability  also are frequently tested. Remember that an agent is always liable for her own torts . A principal can be vicariously liable if the agent or employee was acting in the  scope of their employment , made a minor deviation from their employment, or committed an intentional tort (1) for the principal’s benefit, (2) because the principal authorized it, or (3) that arose naturally due to the nature of employment.

• Liability of a principal and agent for contracts entered into by the agent.  This is an issue that has been tested recently in Agency and Partnership on the MEE. The agent is bound to a third party on a contract she enters into with the third party if the agent had no actual or apparent authority to enter into the contract. The agent also is liable on the contract if the principal is  undisclosed (i.e., the third party does not know the agent is acting on another’s behalf) or if the principal is partially disclosed (i.e., the third party knows the agent is acting on behalf of another but does not know the identity of the principal).

Some of the highly tested Partnership MEE issues include: 

• Formation: A partnership is the association of two or more persons to carry on as  co-owners, a business for profit  whether or not the persons intended to form the partnership. Remember that it is very easy to form a general partnership . No paperwork needs to be filed, as a general partnership is the default entity if parties improperly try to form another business association (e.g., a limited liability partnership). So, in general, if the question is, “Was a general partnership formed?” the answer usually is, “Yes!”

• Note that partners have  fiduciary duties of loyalty , care , and to account .

• Be aware of how a partnership ends . There are three ways to end a partnership: (1) death of any partner, (2) end of a definite term or completion of an undertaking, and (3) a partner’s dissociation (withdrawal ) . Dissociation is the most highly tested method of ending a partnership on the MEE. When a partner dissociates , dissolution of the partnership occurs unless the remaining partners agree to rescind the dissolution. Dissolution is not the end of the partnership but triggers the winding up of the partnership. Winding up is the procedure by which the partnership assets are liquidated and the partnership creditors are paid. The partnership then terminates .

• Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) and Limited Partnerships (LPs) are sometimes tested. Oftentimes on the MEE, a partner will commit a tort  before  an LLP statement of qualification is filed and then file an LLP statement of qualification. The partner is still liable for any actions that took place before the conversion to an LLP.

3. Key Agency and Partnership vocabulary

Students may know the general principles of Agency and Partnership but sometimes forget the key vocabulary or legal “buzzwords” to use. We recommend that you use these words and bold or underline them to draw attention to them in your MEE answers.

Agency and Partnership “buzzwords”

• Be sure to use the terms actual authority , apparent authority , and ratification . Ratification occurs when the principal affirms or accepts the agent’s acts even though the agent did not have authority to act on the principal’s behalf.

• Be able to label the principal (the one who the agent is acting on behalf of) and the agent (the person under the principal’s control).
• Use the term vicarious liability when the principal is liable for a tort committed by an agent (even though the principal herself did nothing wrong). Be able to distinguish this from direct liability (e.g., negligent hiring).
• Be able to define partnership: the association of two or more persons to carry on as co-owners in a business for profit , whether or not the persons intended to form a partnership.
• Know the differences between how the general partnership and limited liability partnership forms. A general partnership is the default partnership, and partners are joint and severally liable . A limited liability partnership is created by filing a statement of qualification , and partners are not personally liable for the partnership’s obligations.
• Know the differences between dissociation (a partner’s withdrawal from the partnership), dissolution (the partnership’s activities usually cease), winding up (partnership assets are liquidated and the creditors are paid), and termination (the end of the partnership).

Being familiar with key vocabulary will help you gain credibility with the grader, and it will help you maximize your MEE score!

4. Practice!

The best way to excel at Agency and Partnership on the MEE is to practice writing answers to essay questions. This will help you become acquainted with how Agency and Partnership are tested. And it will help you master the highly tested issues.

Here, we provide you with some links to free Agency and Partnership MEE questions and NCBE point sheets. (If you would like to purchase a book of Agency and Partnership questions and NCBE point sheets from 2000 to the most recent administration, check out our  MEE books here . You can also see some exams  on the NCBE website for free here .)

• February 2016 Agency and Partnership MEE: this MEE covers limited liability partnerships and fiduciary duties of partners.
• February 2015 Agency MEE (combined with Torts): This MEE covers vicarious liability. As noted above, Agency is often tested with another subject.
• February 2014 Partnerships MEE: this MEE covers general partnerships and limited liability partnerships.
• February 2013 Agency MEE: this MEE covers an agent’s liability on a contract.
• February 2014 Partnerships MEE: this MEE covers general partnership concepts.
• February 2009 Agency MEE : this MEE covers actual and apparent authority.

Go to the next topic, Corporations and LLCs.

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A meeting place for a world of reflective writers.

Three Keys to Writing Partnership Success

Utilizing talk and conversation that lifts writers has been a common thread throughout my experiences as a writing workshop teacher. The importance of partnership work is confirmed in my own writing and again proved each year with my new student writers.

It is now mid-October, yet you may have found yourself over a month into the school year wondering how or where writing partnerships fit into your workshop. You may have tried writing partnerships and felt they didn’t flourish. You might have had a rocky start to the year and just been unable to jump into this opportunity. This post shines a light on what I believe are three elements you need to start successful partnerships. It is also permission to start over, or start tomorrow.

Much of my success with writing partnerships have begun with these three things in mind: 

Let’s take a look at each and their role within a writing partnership.

Body position communicates a lot in partner work. Practicing body position work within partnerships acknowledges the importance of body language. Sitting side-by-side or face-to-face, standing at a counter, sitting at a table or at desks can all have their advantages and potential disadvantages. These can be dependent on the age and the type of work involved in the writing partnership. 

When students can practice different positions, notice and name benefits to their work, and acknowledge potential problems, it makes the partnership work more intentional. 

Resonance within partner work is when the back and forth conversations are resonant within the space between the partners and not disturbed by partnerships around them. This is challenging. I compare it to conversations at a restaurant. A restaurant can be a bit noisy, a little louder than whisper talking. I can have a conversation with people at my table, and though I might hear people around me, it doesn’t interfere with my engagement. The same can be learned in classroom partnerships. 

Creating the talking environments that work best for your classroom can be a group decision, especially when partnership work is more spontaneous and not all at the same time. This allows for respect to those working independently. Determining these environments and zones within the classroom can help everyone reach optimal resonance within a workshop. 

Focus and engagement within partnership work are when a writer can feel lifted, encouraged, and nudged. When partners are intentional about the work, they can set goals and grow together. Acknowledging predictable problems and addressing them head-on helps students plan and prepare. 

When partners meet, encourage them to make a note of the focus within their partnership. These will help you reflect together on what issues are causing a lack of focus or what is working well. 

Start with the question: How do we focus?

As students are making notes, remember to encourage students who may be challenged by this task to write that down as well. Not knowing is just as important as being sure of what we are doing. Making space for all responses and ideas validates the process of each writer. 

Taking these notes one step further, the example below shows how you might structure the conversation after these initial observations. Acknowledging both what distracts partner work and what goes well every time helps writers effectively continue good practices while striving to improve others.

Conversations about partnerships within a classroom happen not just during a writing partnership, but across the day. Writers will learn and grow into the spaces within your walls. Letting them make decisions about where the work happens is part of the writing partnership process. Partnerships that carry purpose and foster growth are guided by position, resonance, and focus. Guiding the practice of recognizing when all these are aligning together is a whole class conversation  that matches the environment you are presenting to your writers. I hope you find these three keys to success helpful as you launch, re-launch, or continue forward with your writing partnerships. 

Several of us have written about writing partnerships here at Two Writing Teachers. If you’d like more, click here for multiple ideas and start tomorrow techniques. 

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Published by Betsy Hubbard

Daughter, sister, wife, mother, teacher, and writer. View all posts by Betsy Hubbard

One thought on “ Three Keys to Writing Partnership Success ”

What a great post! You’ve given me lots to think about and a reminder to be very deliberate and explicit in my teaching. Thanks!

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Essay on partnership: definition, features, advantages and limitations.

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Read this article to learn about the definition, features, advantages and limitations of partnership.

Partnership Defined:

Partnership is very comprehensively defined in the Indian Partnership Act, 1932.

The definition of the act runs as follows:

“Partnership is the relation between (or among) persons who have agreed to share the profits of a business carried on by all or any of them acting for all.”

Point of comment:

The most significant aspect of partnership as per the above definition is that partnership is a relation among persons; and this relation is that of being a partner with one another-very much like relations subsisting among members of a family i.e. relation of brotherhood, sisterhood, parenthood etc.

Partnership relation is a relation of utmost good faith among persons, who want to be partners with one another. Each partner must observe utmost good faith towards each other, while engaged in business dealings.

Following are cited some other important definitions of partnership:

(1) “Two or more individuals may form a partnership by making a written or oral agreement that they will jointly assume full responsibility for the conduct of a business.” —Dr. J.A. Shubin.

(2) “Partnership is the relation between persons competent to make contract, who agree to carry on a lawful business in common with a view to private gain.” —L.H. Haney. Point of explanation:

The persons who enter into partnership are individually called partners, and collectively a firm. The name under which partners carry on business is called the firm name.

Features of Partnership:

Following are the salient features of partnership:

(i) Agreement:

Partnership relation is the result of an agreement between/among two or more persons. The agreement may be oral or written. A written agreement of partnership is known as the Partnership Deed.

(ii) Two or More Persons:

There must be a least two persons to form a partnership. The maximum number of persons in partnership is 10, in case of banking business; and 20 in other types of businesses.

(iii) Lawful Business:

A partnership can be formed for the purpose of carrying on any lawful business. There can be no partnership for engaging in illegal acts like theft, dacoity, smuggling etc.

(iv) Sharing of Profits:

The agreement of partnership must provide for sharing of profits of a business, among partners, in the agreed ratio. Sharing of profits is an important test of partnership. In the absence of an agreed ratio, profits are to be shared equally, by all partners.

Sharing of profits implies sharing of losses also, in the same ratio, in which profits are shared by partners.

(v) Mutual Agency:

The phrase ‘carried on by all or any of them acting for all’, contained in the definition of partnership, as given in the Partnership Act, points out to the element of mutual agency of partnership.

Mutual Agency Implies:

That every partner is an agent of the firm, for purposes of the business of the firm, and every partner is the principal to be bound by the acts of other partners, who act as agents. In fact, mutual agency is the final and conclusive proof of the existence of partnership.

(vi) Unlimited Liability:

The liability of all partners is unlimited-jointly and severally, i.e. each partner is liable to pay debts of the firm to an unlimited extent along with other partners; and if the assets of other partners are insufficient to pay business liabilities, then any one partner could be held liable to pay business debts to an unlimited extent, in his individual capacity.

(vii) Ownership and Control Jointly Held:

Normally, every partner has a right to take part, in the management of the business of the firm i.e. ownership and control are jointly held by all partners.

(viii) Non-Transferability of Share:

No partner can transfer his/her share in the partnership to any other person, without the prior consent of all other partners.

(ix) Registration not Compulsory:

Registration of a partnership firm is not compulsory. However, an unregistered firm suffers from such serious disabilities; so that sooner or later, every firm will like to get itself registered.

Advantages of Partnership:

Following are the advantages of partnership:

(i) Ease of Formation:

Formation of partnership is an easy affair. What is required is just an agreement of partnership among two or more persons; which may ever be an oral agreement. No registration of partnership is required by Law.

(ii) Large Financial Resources:

Partnership commands large financial resources; because as much as twenty persons are permitted to start partnership business. Further, the fact of unlimited liability of partners (which is both joint and several) also increases the borrowing capacity of the firm.

(iii) Balanced Decision-Making:

Partnership not only pools resources; it also combines the abilities and wisdom of a large number of persons. As such, in partnership the managerial decision-making tends to be sound and balanced, which ensures more of success of partnership business.

(iv) Incentive to Work Hard:

In partnership, there is an incentive to work hard for all partners because of the following reasons:

(a) Higher profits of the firm, as a result of hard work, will entitle partners to a larger share in the profits of the firm.

(b) By working hard, partners will try to avoid the undesirable consequences of unlimited liability; which will fall on them-in case they work carelessly.

(v) Ensures Status to all Partners:

Partnership ensures status to all partners. Every partner has a right to take part in the management of the firm. All important decisions of the firm are taken with the mutual consent of all the partners.

(vi) Secrecy of Business Affairs Maintained:

In partnership, the secrecy of business affairs could be easily maintained; since all partners have common interest in maintaining secrecy of business affairs. In fact, in partnership all partners swim and sink together.

(vii) Divided Risk:

In partnership, the business risks are divided among all partners. As such, partners could afford to be bold in taking risky, profitable and adventurous decisions.

(viii) Advantage of Partners’ Specialisation:

Usually, in partnership, the partners tend to be specialists in various areas e.g. purchasing, marketing, finance etc. Thus partnership is able to take advantage of the specialisation of many persons; each one being an expert in a particular aspect of partnership affairs.

(ix) Flexibility of Operations:

Partnership ensures flexibility of business operations. Partners can take immediate decisions to effect changes in the functioning of the business, to take the best advantage of the changing circumstances.

Limitations of Partnership:

Following are the important limitations of partnership:

(i) Unlimited Liability:

The fact of unlimited liability is perhaps, the serious-most limitation of partnership. Many good persons never have the idea of entering into a partnership agreement with others. Further, partners always try to follow most traditional systems of managing, which ensure safest business dealings. As such, partners rarely take bold decisions and restrict the growth of the firm through their conservative approach.

(ii) Uncertainty of Existence:

Life of partnership is most uncertain. Differences among partners, which are so natural now-a-days, may lead to dissolution of a well-running partnership firm.

(iii) Delayed Decision-Making:

All major decisions in partnership are taken with the mutual consent of all the partners; which may not be so easy to emerge as expected in theory. As such, partners may miss many opportunities for gain either due to delayed decisions or lack of consensus.

(iv) Risk of Implied Authority of Partners:

Every partner is an agent of the firm for purposes of the business of the firm. A dishonest or careless partner may land the firm in great difficulties because of his wrong actions.

(v) Fear of Competitive Business:

There may be a fear of a competitive business, in partnership, from partners themselves. A partner, having stolen the secrets of business of the firm may disassociate from the firm and start a competitive business of his own.

(vi) Unsuitable for Big Ventures:

Financial resources and managerial capacity of the partners are rather limited. Even a very well running and sound partnership may find itself unable to undertake very big business projects.

(vii) Non-Transferability of Ownership:

A partner cannot transfer his ownership interest in the firm to others, without consent of all other partners. This means, having invested in a partnership firm, a person may find his capital absolutely blocked in a particular business. Many persons are hesitant to become partners, on this ground.

Related Articles:

• 14 Important Characteristics of a Partnership Firm
• Rights and Obligations of Partners as Mentioned in the Partnership Act

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Home — Essay Samples — Business — Company — Different Types Of Partnership

Different Types of Partnership

• Categories: Agreement Company

About this sample

Words: 701 |

Published: Dec 18, 2018

Words: 701 | Pages: 2 | 4 min read

• Capital – If there are more number of partners they can invest more capital to the business.
• Flexible – Partnership businesses are easier to form and easier to run. Owners can decide the way that how the business should run.
• Easy to make Decisions – Partners can easily take decisions according to the situation of the business.
• Limited external regulations - When compared to the other types of businesses partnerships has less regulations.
• Responsibility is shared – Partners can share the responsibilities among them. It will allow to partners to make their abilities better.
• Disagreements – There can be disagreements between partners. It will be adisadvantage when making decisions.
• Unlimited liability – Partners are subjects to unlimited liability which means each partners shares liability and all the risks including financial risks of the business.
• Taxation – This is one of a major disadvantage of partnerships. Partners must pay tax each year.
• Profits should be shared – All the earned profits should equally share among partners.
• Limited liability for shareholders – As earlier mentioned the shareholders are liable only for their invested money.
• Tax advantage and tax – These limited companies are only taxed on their profits.
• Great Security – The limited Companies are totally separate from the directors and shareholders. Because of that their personal assets are not at any risk.
• Respect – Setting up a “Limited “company it gives the directors an air of respect.
• Pensions – Limited companies can fund their employees a legitimate expense.
• Cost is high – Limited companies are expensive to establish.
• Financial status are public – Company accounts and records are can be accessed by any person

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Why the Pandemic Probably Started in a Lab, in 5 Key Points

By Alina Chan

Dr. Chan is a molecular biologist at the Broad Institute of M.I.T. and Harvard, and a co-author of “Viral: The Search for the Origin of Covid-19.”

This article has been updated to reflect news developments.

On Monday, Dr. Anthony Fauci returned to the halls of Congress and testified before the House subcommittee investigating the Covid-19 pandemic. He was questioned about several topics related to the government’s handling of Covid-19, including how the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which he directed until retiring in 2022, supported risky virus work at a Chinese institute whose research may have caused the pandemic.

For more than four years, reflexive partisan politics have derailed the search for the truth about a catastrophe that has touched us all. It has been estimated that at least 25 million people around the world have died because of Covid-19, with over a million of those deaths in the United States.

Although how the pandemic started has been hotly debated, a growing volume of evidence — gleaned from public records released under the Freedom of Information Act, digital sleuthing through online databases, scientific papers analyzing the virus and its spread, and leaks from within the U.S. government — suggests that the pandemic most likely occurred because a virus escaped from a research lab in Wuhan, China. If so, it would be the most costly accident in the history of science.

Here’s what we now know:

1 The SARS-like virus that caused the pandemic emerged in Wuhan, the city where the world’s foremost research lab for SARS-like viruses is located.

• At the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a team of scientists had been hunting for SARS-like viruses for over a decade, led by Shi Zhengli.
• Their research showed that the viruses most similar to SARS‑CoV‑2, the virus that caused the pandemic, circulate in bats that live r oughly 1,000 miles away from Wuhan. Scientists from Dr. Shi’s team traveled repeatedly to Yunnan province to collect these viruses and had expanded their search to Southeast Asia. Bats in other parts of China have not been found to carry viruses that are as closely related to SARS-CoV-2.

The closest known relatives to SARS-CoV-2 were found in southwestern China and in Laos.

Large cities

Mine in Yunnan province

Cave in Laos

South China Sea

The closest known relatives to SARS-CoV-2

were found in southwestern China and in Laos.

philippines

The closest known relatives to SARS-CoV-2 were found

in southwestern China and Laos.

Sources: Sarah Temmam et al., Nature; SimpleMaps

Note: Cities shown have a population of at least 200,000.

There are hundreds of large cities in China and Southeast Asia.

There are hundreds of large cities in China

and Southeast Asia.

The pandemic started roughly 1,000 miles away, in Wuhan, home to the world’s foremost SARS-like virus research lab.

The pandemic started roughly 1,000 miles away,

in Wuhan, home to the world’s foremost SARS-like virus research lab.

The pandemic started roughly 1,000 miles away, in Wuhan,

home to the world’s foremost SARS-like virus research lab.

• Even at hot spots where these viruses exist naturally near the cave bats of southwestern China and Southeast Asia, the scientists argued, as recently as 2019 , that bat coronavirus spillover into humans is rare .
• When the Covid-19 outbreak was detected, Dr. Shi initially wondered if the novel coronavirus had come from her laboratory , saying she had never expected such an outbreak to occur in Wuhan.
• The SARS‑CoV‑2 virus is exceptionally contagious and can jump from species to species like wildfire . Yet it left no known trace of infection at its source or anywhere along what would have been a thousand-mile journey before emerging in Wuhan.

2 The year before the outbreak, the Wuhan institute, working with U.S. partners, had proposed creating viruses with SARS‑CoV‑2’s defining feature.

• Dr. Shi’s group was fascinated by how coronaviruses jump from species to species. To find viruses, they took samples from bats and other animals , as well as from sick people living near animals carrying these viruses or associated with the wildlife trade. Much of this work was conducted in partnership with the EcoHealth Alliance, a U.S.-based scientific organization that, since 2002, has been awarded over $80 million in federal funding to research the risks of emerging infectious diseases.
• The laboratory pursued risky research that resulted in viruses becoming more infectious : Coronaviruses were grown from samples from infected animals and genetically reconstructed and recombined to create new viruses unknown in nature. These new viruses were passed through cells from bats, pigs, primates and humans and were used to infect civets and humanized mice (mice modified with human genes). In essence, this process forced these viruses to adapt to new host species, and the viruses with mutations that allowed them to thrive emerged as victors.
• By 2019, Dr. Shi’s group had published a database describing more than 22,000 collected wildlife samples. But external access was shut off in the fall of 2019, and the database was not shared with American collaborators even after the pandemic started , when such a rich virus collection would have been most useful in tracking the origin of SARS‑CoV‑2. It remains unclear whether the Wuhan institute possessed a precursor of the pandemic virus.
• In 2021, The Intercept published a leaked 2018 grant proposal for a research project named Defuse , which had been written as a collaboration between EcoHealth, the Wuhan institute and Ralph Baric at the University of North Carolina, who had been on the cutting edge of coronavirus research for years. The proposal described plans to create viruses strikingly similar to SARS‑CoV‑2.
• Coronaviruses bear their name because their surface is studded with protein spikes, like a spiky crown, which they use to enter animal cells. T he Defuse project proposed to search for and create SARS-like viruses carrying spikes with a unique feature: a furin cleavage site — the same feature that enhances SARS‑CoV‑2’s infectiousness in humans, making it capable of causing a pandemic. Defuse was never funded by the United States . However, in his testimony on Monday, Dr. Fauci explained that the Wuhan institute would not need to rely on U.S. funding to pursue research independently.

The Wuhan lab ran risky experiments to learn about how SARS-like viruses might infect humans.

1. Collect SARS-like viruses from bats and other wild animals, as well as from people exposed to them.

2. Identify high-risk viruses by screening for spike proteins that facilitate infection of human cells.

2. Identify high-risk viruses by screening for spike proteins that facilitate infection of

human cells.

In Defuse, the scientists proposed to add a furin cleavage site to the spike protein.

3. Create new coronaviruses by inserting spike proteins or other features that could make the viruses more infectious in humans.

4. Infect human cells, civets and humanized mice with the new coronaviruses, to determine how dangerous they might be.

• While it’s possible that the furin cleavage site could have evolved naturally (as seen in some distantly related coronaviruses), out of the hundreds of SARS-like viruses cataloged by scientists, SARS‑CoV‑2 is the only one known to possess a furin cleavage site in its spike. And the genetic data suggest that the virus had only recently gained the furin cleavage site before it started the pandemic.
• Ultimately, a never-before-seen SARS-like virus with a newly introduced furin cleavage site, matching the description in the Wuhan institute’s Defuse proposal, caused an outbreak in Wuhan less than two years after the proposal was drafted.
• When the Wuhan scientists published their seminal paper about Covid-19 as the pandemic roared to life in 2020, they did not mention the virus’s furin cleavage site — a feature they should have been on the lookout for, according to their own grant proposal, and a feature quickly recognized by other scientists.
• Worse still, as the pandemic raged, their American collaborators failed to publicly reveal the existence of the Defuse proposal. The president of EcoHealth, Peter Daszak, recently admitted to Congress that he doesn’t know about virus samples collected by the Wuhan institute after 2015 and never asked the lab’s scientists if they had started the work described in Defuse. In May, citing failures in EcoHealth’s monitoring of risky experiments conducted at the Wuhan lab, the Biden administration suspended all federal funding for the organization and Dr. Daszak, and initiated proceedings to bar them from receiving future grants. In his testimony on Monday, Dr. Fauci said that he supported the decision to suspend and bar EcoHealth.
• Separately, Dr. Baric described the competitive dynamic between his research group and the institute when he told Congress that the Wuhan scientists would probably not have shared their most interesting newly discovered viruses with him . Documents and email correspondence between the institute and Dr. Baric are still being withheld from the public while their release is fiercely contested in litigation.
• In the end, American partners very likely knew of only a fraction of the research done in Wuhan. According to U.S. intelligence sources, some of the institute’s virus research was classified or conducted with or on behalf of the Chinese military . In the congressional hearing on Monday, Dr. Fauci repeatedly acknowledged the lack of visibility into experiments conducted at the Wuhan institute, saying, “None of us can know everything that’s going on in China, or in Wuhan, or what have you. And that’s the reason why — I say today, and I’ve said at the T.I.,” referring to his transcribed interview with the subcommittee, “I keep an open mind as to what the origin is.”

3 The Wuhan lab pursued this type of work under low biosafety conditions that could not have contained an airborne virus as infectious as SARS‑CoV‑2.

• Labs working with live viruses generally operate at one of four biosafety levels (known in ascending order of stringency as BSL-1, 2, 3 and 4) that describe the work practices that are considered sufficiently safe depending on the characteristics of each pathogen. The Wuhan institute’s scientists worked with SARS-like viruses under inappropriately low biosafety conditions .

In the United States, virologists generally use stricter Biosafety Level 3 protocols when working with SARS-like viruses.

Biosafety cabinets prevent

viral particles from escaping.

Viral particles

Personal respirators provide

a second layer of defense against breathing in the virus.

DIRECT CONTACT

Gloves prevent skin contact.

Disposable wraparound

gowns cover much of the rest of the body.

Personal respirators provide a second layer of defense against breathing in the virus.

Disposable wraparound gowns

cover much of the rest of the body.

Note: ​​Biosafety levels are not internationally standardized, and some countries use more permissive protocols than others.

The Wuhan lab had been regularly working with SARS-like viruses under Biosafety Level 2 conditions, which could not prevent a highly infectious virus like SARS-CoV-2 from escaping.

Some work is done in the open air, and masks are not required.

Less protective equipment provides more opportunities

for contamination.

Some work is done in the open air,

and masks are not required.

Less protective equipment provides more opportunities for contamination.

• In one experiment, Dr. Shi’s group genetically engineered an unexpectedly deadly SARS-like virus (not closely related to SARS‑CoV‑2) that exhibited a 10,000-fold increase in the quantity of virus in the lungs and brains of humanized mice . Wuhan institute scientists handled these live viruses at low biosafet y levels , including BSL-2.
• Even the much more stringent containment at BSL-3 cannot fully prevent SARS‑CoV‑2 from escaping . Two years into the pandemic, the virus infected a scientist in a BSL-3 laboratory in Taiwan, which was, at the time, a zero-Covid country. The scientist had been vaccinated and was tested only after losing the sense of smell. By then, more than 100 close contacts had been exposed. Human error is a source of exposure even at the highest biosafety levels , and the risks are much greater for scientists working with infectious pathogens at low biosafety.
• An early draft of the Defuse proposal stated that the Wuhan lab would do their virus work at BSL-2 to make it “highly cost-effective.” Dr. Baric added a note to the draft highlighting the importance of using BSL-3 to contain SARS-like viruses that could infect human cells, writing that “U.S. researchers will likely freak out.” Years later, after SARS‑CoV‑2 had killed millions, Dr. Baric wrote to Dr. Daszak : “I have no doubt that they followed state determined rules and did the work under BSL-2. Yes China has the right to set their own policy. You believe this was appropriate containment if you want but don’t expect me to believe it. Moreover, don’t insult my intelligence by trying to feed me this load of BS.”
• SARS‑CoV‑2 is a stealthy virus that transmits effectively through the air, causes a range of symptoms similar to those of other common respiratory diseases and can be spread by infected people before symptoms even appear. If the virus had escaped from a BSL-2 laboratory in 2019, the leak most likely would have gone undetected until too late.
• One alarming detail — leaked to The Wall Street Journal and confirmed by current and former U.S. government officials — is that scientists on Dr. Shi’s team fell ill with Covid-like symptoms in the fall of 2019 . One of the scientists had been named in the Defuse proposal as the person in charge of virus discovery work. The scientists denied having been sick .

4 The hypothesis that Covid-19 came from an animal at the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan is not supported by strong evidence.

• In December 2019, Chinese investigators assumed the outbreak had started at a centrally located market frequented by thousands of visitors daily. This bias in their search for early cases meant that cases unlinked to or located far away from the market would very likely have been missed. To make things worse, the Chinese authorities blocked the reporting of early cases not linked to the market and, claiming biosafety precautions, ordered the destruction of patient samples on January 3, 2020, making it nearly impossible to see the complete picture of the earliest Covid-19 cases. Information about dozens of early cases from November and December 2019 remains inaccessible.
• A pair of papers published in Science in 2022 made the best case for SARS‑CoV‑2 having emerged naturally from human-animal contact at the Wuhan market by focusing on a map of the early cases and asserting that the virus had jumped from animals into humans twice at the market in 2019. More recently, the two papers have been countered by other virologists and scientists who convincingly demonstrate that the available market evidence does not distinguish between a human superspreader event and a natural spillover at the market.
• Furthermore, the existing genetic and early case data show that all known Covid-19 cases probably stem from a single introduction of SARS‑CoV‑2 into people, and the outbreak at the Wuhan market probably happened after the virus had already been circulating in humans.

An analysis of SARS-CoV-2’s evolutionary tree shows how the virus evolved as it started to spread through humans.

SARS-COV-2 Viruses closest

to bat coronaviruses

more mutations

Source: Lv et al., Virus Evolution (2024) , as reproduced by Jesse Bloom

The viruses that infected people linked to the market were most likely not the earliest form of the virus that started the pandemic.

• Not a single infected animal has ever been confirmed at the market or in its supply chain. Without good evidence that the pandemic started at the Huanan Seafood Market, the fact that the virus emerged in Wuhan points squarely at its unique SARS-like virus laboratory.

5 Key evidence that would be expected if the virus had emerged from the wildlife trade is still missing.

In previous outbreaks of coronaviruses, scientists were able to demonstrate natural origin by collecting multiple pieces of evidence linking infected humans to infected animals.

Infected animals

Earliest known

cases exposed to

live animals

Antibody evidence

of animals and

animal traders having

been infected

Ancestral variants

of the virus found in

Documented trade

of host animals

between the area

where bats carry

closely related viruses

and the outbreak site

Infected animals found

Earliest known cases exposed to live animals

Antibody evidence of animals and animal

traders having been infected

Ancestral variants of the virus found in animals

Documented trade of host animals

between the area where bats carry closely

related viruses and the outbreak site

For SARS-CoV-2, these same key pieces of evidence are still missing , more than four years after the virus emerged.

For SARS-CoV-2, these same key pieces of evidence are still missing ,

more than four years after the virus emerged.

• Despite the intense search trained on the animal trade and people linked to the market, investigators have not reported finding any animals infected with SARS‑CoV‑2 that had not been infected by humans. Yet, infected animal sources and other connective pieces of evidence were found for the earlier SARS and MERS outbreaks as quickly as within a few days, despite the less advanced viral forensic technologies of two decades ago.
• Even though Wuhan is the home base of virus hunters with world-leading expertise in tracking novel SARS-like viruses, investigators have either failed to collect or report key evidence that would be expected if Covid-19 emerged from the wildlife trade . For example, investigators have not determined that the earliest known cases had exposure to intermediate host animals before falling ill. No antibody evidence shows that animal traders in Wuhan are regularly exposed to SARS-like viruses, as would be expected in such situations.
• With today’s technology, scientists can detect how respiratory viruses — including SARS, MERS and the flu — circulate in animals while making repeated attempts to jump across species . Thankfully, these variants usually fail to transmit well after crossing over to a new species and tend to die off after a small number of infections. In contrast, virologists and other scientists agree that SARS‑CoV‑2 required little to no adaptation to spread rapidly in humans and other animals . The virus appears to have succeeded in causing a pandemic upon its only detected jump into humans.

The pandemic could have been caused by any of hundreds of virus species, at any of tens of thousands of wildlife markets, in any of thousands of cities, and in any year. But it was a SARS-like coronavirus with a unique furin cleavage site that emerged in Wuhan, less than two years after scientists, sometimes working under inadequate biosafety conditions, proposed collecting and creating viruses of that same design.

While several natural spillover scenarios remain plausible, and we still don’t know enough about the full extent of virus research conducted at the Wuhan institute by Dr. Shi’s team and other researchers, a laboratory accident is the most parsimonious explanation of how the pandemic began.

Given what we now know, investigators should follow their strongest leads and subpoena all exchanges between the Wuhan scientists and their international partners, including unpublished research proposals, manuscripts, data and commercial orders. In particular, exchanges from 2018 and 2019 — the critical two years before the emergence of Covid-19 — are very likely to be illuminating (and require no cooperation from the Chinese government to acquire), yet they remain beyond the public’s view more than four years after the pandemic began.

Whether the pandemic started on a lab bench or in a market stall, it is undeniable that U.S. federal funding helped to build an unprecedented collection of SARS-like viruses at the Wuhan institute, as well as contributing to research that enhanced them . Advocates and funders of the institute’s research, including Dr. Fauci, should cooperate with the investigation to help identify and close the loopholes that allowed such dangerous work to occur. The world must not continue to bear the intolerable risks of research with the potential to cause pandemics .

A successful investigation of the pandemic’s root cause would have the power to break a decades-long scientific impasse on pathogen research safety, determining how governments will spend billions of dollars to prevent future pandemics. A credible investigation would also deter future acts of negligence and deceit by demonstrating that it is indeed possible to be held accountable for causing a viral pandemic. Last but not least, people of all nations need to see their leaders — and especially, their scientists — heading the charge to find out what caused this world-shaking event. Restoring public trust in science and government leadership requires it.

A thorough investigation by the U.S. government could unearth more evidence while spurring whistleblowers to find their courage and seek their moment of opportunity. It would also show the world that U.S. leaders and scientists are not afraid of what the truth behind the pandemic may be.

More on how the pandemic may have started

Where Did the Coronavirus Come From? What We Already Know Is Troubling.

Even if the coronavirus did not emerge from a lab, the groundwork for a potential disaster had been laid for years, and learning its lessons is essential to preventing others.

By Zeynep Tufekci

Why Does Bad Science on Covid’s Origin Get Hyped?

If the raccoon dog was a smoking gun, it fired blanks.

By David Wallace-Wells

A Plea for Making Virus Research Safer

A way forward for lab safety.

By Jesse Bloom

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

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Alina Chan ( @ayjchan ) is a molecular biologist at the Broad Institute of M.I.T. and Harvard, and a co-author of “ Viral : The Search for the Origin of Covid-19.” She was a member of the Pathogens Project , which the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists organized to generate new thinking on responsible, high-risk pathogen research.

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Microsoft, Hitachi Form Multibillion-Dollar AI Partnership

Key takeaways.

• Microsoft and Japanese conglomerate Hitachi announced a multibillion-dollar, three-year partnership focused on generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) adoption on Tuesday.
• Hitachi will integrate Microsoft's Azure OpenAI Service, Dynamics 365, Copilot for Microsoft 365, and GitHub Copilot into its Lumada Solutions business.
• Hitachi plans to invest 300 billion yen ($2.1 billion) in GenAI in fiscal 2024 and will train over 50,000 professionals on AI skills.
• The partnership could help Hitachi expand its AI offerings and upskill its workforce, while expanding Microsoft's AI monetization opportunities by growing its enterprise customer relationships.

Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Japanese conglomerate Hitachi on Tuesday announced a multibillion-dollar partnership spanning three years focused on accelerating the adoption of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI ).

Through the collaboration, Hitachi "will accelerate social innovation with generative AI" by integrating Microsoft's AI tech into its business offerings, the companies said. Hitachi will embed Microsoft's cloud services, Azure Open AI Service, Dynamics 365, Copilot for Microsoft 365, and GitHub Copilot into its Lumada Solutions business.

Lumada, which Hitachi says is coined from the words "illuminate" and "data," is "a generic term for solutions, services, and technology systems that speed up digital transformation (DX) through the use of cutting-edge technologies."

The Lumada business is expected to contribute 2.65 trillion yen ($18.9 billion) in revenue to the Japanese firm in fiscal 2024, up from Y2.33 trillion in fiscal 2023.

Partnership Aims 'To Improve the Productivity of 270,000 Hitachi Employees'

"Our expanded partnership with Hitachi will bring together the power of the Microsoft Cloud—including Microsoft Copilot—with Hitachi’s industry expertise to improve the productivity of 270,000 Hitachi employees and help address customers’ biggest challenges, including sustainability," Microsoft Chief Executive Officer (CEO ) Satya Nadella said.

Hitachi CEO Keiji Kojima said that it plans to invest Y300 billion ($2.1 billion) in GenAI in fiscal 2024. The company will also train over 50,000 professionals on AI skills as part of the partnership, incorporating Microsoft's training, which could help Hitachi bolster its workforce's AI-related skills amid concerns about an  AI talent shortage .

Microsoft has  established  itself as an early AI leader through its ongoing  partnership  with  ChatGPT  maker OpenAI . The technology giant has found some early success in monetizing its AI tech through its  enterprise customers , offering AI-powered products and services to corporate clients.

Hitachi Recently Announced GenAI Partnership With Google Cloud

The arrangement with Microsoft comes a week after Hitachi announced a GenAI-focused multi-year partnership with Alphabet's ( GOOGL ) Google Cloud.

Microsoft shares were little changed at $412.98 at 12:47 p.m. ET Tuesday. The stock has gained roughly 10% in 2024.

Read the original article on Investopedia .

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A Key Training Partnership: FLETC and State, Local, and Tribal Law Enforcement

June 2024 | Volume 17 | Issue 6

FLETC also exports training to host locations across the nation, most of which are provided at no cost to sworn state, local, and tribal law enforcement officers. These programs are hosted by departments or agencies and are open to officers from around the country.

Export training programs delivered to the field

• Internet Investigations
• Firearms Instructor
• Use of Force Instructor
• Law Enforcement Control Tactics Instructor
• Law Enforcement Fitness Coordinator
• Case Organization and Presentation
• Vehicle Data Extraction
• Wi-Fi Tools for Analysis and Geo-Locating
• Officer Safety and Survival
• Active Shooter Threat Instructor
• Instructor Techniques for Nonlethal Training Ammunition
• Basic Tactical Medical Instructor
• Leadership for Women in Law Enforcement
• Advanced Interviewing for Law Enforcement Investigators
• Basic Incident Response to Digital Evidence
• Human Trafficking Awareness Training

Department of Homeland Security Leadership Academy (DHSLA)

The content and structure of the program facilitate communication and collaboration between the participants as they share experiences and explore solutions to problems faced by their agencies. The nine-day program is held at FLETC) in Glynco, Georgia. FLETC covers all costs associated with the program (travel, lodging, meals, and tuition).

DHSLA features a variety of world-class presenters along with instruction facilitated by FLETC staff. The program features topics such as the following:

• Leadership in a Crisis
• Case Studies of Active Shooter events (Parkland, Louisville Bank, Dallas, Route 91 Las Vegas, Aurora, among others)
• Leadership Lessons Learned, Response, and Aftermath Considerations
• Victim Advocacy, Inter-Agency Cooperation, and Media
• Critical Incident Response: Weathering the Media Storm
• Louisville Riots after the Breonna Taylor Shooting - Lessons Learned
• Officer Wellness Training and Technical Assistance Program (ICP/ TTA)
• Human Trafficking

Program information and registration

For departments interested in hosting a program, please complete the FLETC Host Request Training Form . Please complete the form in its entirety. A Regional Coordinator will review it and will be in touch.

The FLETC website offers a full list of training programs and descriptions currently offered. Please go to the FLETC Application for Student Training to access and for online registration.

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Hamas is using people of Gaza as human shields. You can't avoid that fact. | Letters

I have two issues with the op-ed in the Ideas Lab of May 19 (“ Student protesters won’t be silent about genocide unfolding in Gaza ”).

For starters, I should state that I believe there should be an immediate cease fire in Gaza and that the continued loss of civilian life only harms the long-term efforts for peace and stability. I also support the right to peaceful protest , but if protests turn into racist confrontations, it is counterproductive. Violence and inflammatory rhetoric are never the answers.

However, the first issue is that she wrote that Israel is populated by “European ‘settlers.’” But nearly a million Jews fled or were expelled by Muslim countries and settled in Israel. There are also Muslim and Christian citizens of Israel.

The second is she avoids dealing with Hamas, which started this current conflict and is using the population of Gaza as human shields. Having traveled to the Middle East, I believe there is much to make amends for. I do believe that Israel as a nation should have done more to try to find lasting solutions, but Islamic terrorist groups have made that more difficult.

Both sides in this conflict need to come together and create a state for the Palestinians and use the resources being used for war to bring some measure of social justice.

Joseph Geck, Waukesha

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The University of Chicago The Law School

College essays and diversity in the post-affirmative action era, sonja starr’s latest research adds data, legal analysis to discussion about race in college admissions essays.

Editor’s Note: This story is part of an occasional series on research projects currently in the works at the Law School.

The Supreme Court’s decision in June 2023 to bar the use of affirmative action in college admissions raised many questions. One of the most significant is whether universities should consider applicants’ discussion of race in essays. The Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. Harvard did not require entirely race-blind admissions. Rather, the Court explicitly stated that admissions offices may weigh what students say about how race affected their lives. Yet the Court also warned that this practice may not be used to circumvent the bar on affirmative action.

Many university leaders made statements after SFFA suggesting that they take this passage seriously, and that it potentially points to a strategy for preserving diversity. But it’s not obvious how lower courts will distinguish between consideration of “race-related experience” and consideration of “race qua race.” Sonja Starr, Julius Kreeger Professor of Law & Criminology at the Law School, was intrigued by the implication of that question, calling the key passage of the Court’s opinion the “essay carveout.”

“Where is the line?” she wrote in a forthcoming article, the first of its kind to discuss this issue in depth in the post- SFFA era. “And what other potential legal pitfalls could universities encounter in evaluating essays about race?”

To inform her paper’s legal analysis, Starr conducted empirical analyses of how universities and students have included race in essays, both before and after the Court’s decision. She concluded that large numbers of applicants wrote about race, and that college essay prompts encouraged them to do so, even before SFFA .

Some thought the essay carveout made no sense. Justice Sonia Sotomayor called it “an attempt to put lipstick on a pig” in her dissent. Starr, however, disagrees. She argues that universities are on sound legal footing relying on the essay carveout, so long as they consider race-related experience in an individualized way. In her article, Starr points out reasons the essay carveout makes sense in the context of the Court’s other arguments. However, she points to the potential for future challenges—on both equal protection and First Amendment grounds—and discusses how colleges can survive them.

What the Empirical Research Showed

After SFFA , media outlets suggested that universities would add questions about race or identity in their admissions essays and that students would increasingly focus on that topic. Starr decided to investigate this speculation. She commissioned a professional survey group to recruit a nationally representative sample of recent college applicants. The firm queried 881 people about their essay content, about half of whom applied in 2022-23, before SFFA , and half of whom submitted in 2023-24.

The survey found that more than 60 percent of students in non-white groups wrote about race in at least some of their essays, as did about half of white applicants. But contrary to what the media suggested, there were no substantial changes between the pre-and post- SFFA application cycles.

Starr also reviewed essay prompts that 65 top schools have used over the last four years. She found that diversity and identity questions—as well as questions about overcoming adversity, which, for example, provide opportunities for students to discuss discrimination that they have faced—are common and have increased in frequency both before and after SFFA.

A Personally Inspired Interest

Although Starr has long written about equal protection issues, until about two years ago, she would have characterized educational admissions as a bit outside her wheelhouse. Her research has mostly focused on the criminal justice system, though race is often at the heart of it. In the past, for example, she has assessed the role of race in sentencing, the constitutionality of algorithmic risk assessment instruments in criminal justice, as well as policies to expand employment options for people with criminal records.

But a legal battle around admissions policies at Fairfax County’s Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology—the high school that Starr attended—caught her attention. Starr followed the case closely and predicted that “litigation may soon be an ever-present threat for race-conscious policymaking” in a 2024 Stanford Law Review article on that and other magnet school cases.

“I got really interested in that case partly because of the personal connection,” she said. “But I ended up writing about it as an academic matter, and that got me entrenched in this world of educational admissions questions and their related implications for other areas of equal protection law.”

Implications in Education and Beyond

Starr’s forthcoming paper argues that the essay carveout provides a way for colleges to maintain diversity and stay on the right side of the Court’s decision.

“I believe there’s quite a bit of space that’s open for colleges to pursue in this area without crossing that line,” she said. “I lay out the arguments that colleges can put forth.”

Nevertheless, Starr expects future litigation targeting the essay carveout.

“I think we could see cases filed as soon as this year when the admissions numbers come out,” she said, pointing out that conservative legal organizations, such as the Pacific Legal Foundation, have warned that they’re going to be keeping a close eye on admissions numbers and looking for ways that schools are circumventing SFFA .

Starr envisions her paper being used as a resource for schools that want to obey the law while also maintaining diversity. “The preservation of diversity is not a red flag that something unconstitutional is happening,” she said. “There are lots of perfectly permissible ways that we can expect diversity to be maintained in this post- affirmative action era.”

Starr’s article, “Admissions Essays after SFFA ,” is slated to be published in Indiana Law Journal in early 2025.

Snowflake Data Cloud Summit 2024: The biggest developments announced

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VB Transform 2024 returns this July! Over 400 enterprise leaders will gather in San Francisco from July 9-11 to dive into the advancement of GenAI strategies and engaging in thought-provoking discussions within the community. Find out how you can attend here .

Every year, Snowflake hosts the Data Cloud Summit to share how it is expanding its core platform to help teams make the most of their data assets. The year 2024 was no different, but the focus was more centered on one key aspect — enabling teams to build powerful AI applications with their data assets. 

The Sridhar Ramaswamy-led company announced several capabilities and partnerships focused on AI innovation, while also releasing some long-awaited features to strengthen the data foundations of the platform, including the general availability of Iceberg Tables and an internal marketplace.

Below is a rundown of all major announcements:

Iceberg Tables in GA and the new Polaris Catalog

First, the company shared that it is making Iceberg Tables generally available, unlocking full storage interoperability for enterprises. Iceberg Tables work like Snowflake native tables but store the table metadata in Apache Iceberg format in the customer-supplied storage. This takes Snowflake’s ease of use, performance, governance and collaboration to their Iceberg data stored externally. 

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The company further reinforced its commitment to Iceberg with the launch of Polaris , a vendor-neutral, open data catalog implementation for indexing and organizing data conforming to the open table format. 

Available in both self and Snowflake-hosted options, the catalog will be open-sourced over the next 90 days and interoperate with other query engines enterprises would like to use to drive value from their data assets, including ​​ Apache Flink , Apache Spark , Dremio , Python, Trino and others. 

Cortex AI and Snowflake ML upgrade

Snowflake’s Cortex AI, the fully managed service to build large language model (LLM) applications, got a major upgrade with an AI & ML Studio, a no-code interface to get started with the testing and evaluation bits of the application development workflow. Cortex is also getting new Analyst and Search offerings, with the former helping with the development of LLM chatbots that help users ask questions on their business data, while the latter helping with retrieval augmented generation (RAG) and enterprise search apps that use documents and other text-based datasets through enterprise-grade hybrid search. 

The company also announced Cortex Guard as a safety net that ensures these chatbots do not produce harmful content in their responses as well as new MLOps capabilities in Snowflake ML.

Snowflake Horizon’s new marketplace

Snowflake launched Horizon to provide organizations with a built-in set of compliance, security, privacy, interoperability and access capabilities to discover and govern data, apps and models. Now, the suite is being enhanced with a new internal marketplace that allows users to curate and publish these data products specifically for teams within their organization to discover and use. It also includes control options to help users limit who within an organization could see or access their content. The offering will also support the sharing of AI models, Iceberg Tables and Dynamic Tables, the company added.

Additionally, Snowflake said it is introducing new AI-powered object descriptions that will automatically generate relevant context and comments for tables and views, enabling better data discovery and curation.

Snowflake Trail for observability

In addition to data and AI-centered improvements, Snowflake focused on the observability side with the launch of Trail, an offering that provides visibility into data quality , pipelines and applications. Trail provides built-in telemetry signals for Snowpark and Snowpark Container Services, enabling users to easily diagnose and debug errors using metrics, logs, and distributed tracing — without sitting up agents or transferring data manually. 

Trail uses OpenTelemetry standards, which means it can also be integrated with other observability and alert platforms, including Datadog, Grafana, Metaplane, PagerDuty and Slack.

Stronger data residency

Snowflake also said it is expanding its AI Data Cloud footprint to some highly regulated and sovereign markets globally. The company did not share the names of these regions but confirmed this includes a new EU-only data boundary that will keep all customer data, alongside relevant service and usage data, within regional borders to ensure stronger data residency and help customers meet regulatory requirements.

The company will also offer a separate environment to Department of Defense customers with stronger security and a networking integration with Boundary Cloud Access Point (BCAP).

The Nvidia partnership

Finally, Snowflake announced a partnership with Nvidia to adopt the Nvidia AI Enterprise software and integrate NeMo Retriever microservices into Cortex AI. The engagement will enable organizations to connect custom models to diverse business data and get highly accurate responses. 

Beyond, the company said its open LLM Arctic supports Nvidia TensorRT-LLM software, promising highly optimized performance. The model is also now available as an NVIDIA NIM inference microservice, allowing more developers to access it.

Snowflake Data Cloud Summit runs from June 3 to June 6, 2024.

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