How do you handle a situation where a strategic partner breaches the agreement or fails to deliver?

First thing to do in this situation is to access the impact of the breach of contract and agreement. How severe it is? What would be at stake,? What impact would it have on the organization and clients? What threats does it pose on the organization continuity, sustainability and solidity.? Consider these questions in order to know the next step to take in such situation.

Start with why. As with any relationship, most issues arise due to poor communication and a breakdown there can cause the breakup of what could have been great relationships. What causes are really driving the breach? Is it process/people/priorities/something else? Ask open-ended questions to get to the root of the issues and see how you can arrive at a solution that is mutually beneficial acceptable for the short term, and work on a long term solution for preserving and growing the partnership.

In the event of termination or legal action, take steps to protect your interests. This may include discontinuing any ongoing collaboration, securing your assets, and ensuring the continuity of your operations.

The question suggests minimal dialogue throughout the partnership process. Infrequently do we start the week to a material breach with no hint of such days, weeks and even months beforehand. The most successful outcome is avoiding this in the first place through open and honest dialogue, consistently assessing progress against KPI's. By building and maintaining an environment of open communication, it often takes the sting out of problems and reduces the likelihood they will scale to large issues.

Assessing the impact is very important. Even as you try to assess the impact, You should try and put an alternative in place which will help take the role ahead. This will help avoiding issues, reduce stress and minimize the risk of impact. Do an objective assessment of the impact, and also assess the best options you have to be able to move ahead.

An example we had was a product not cured properly with a foreign manufacturer. We flew out to the factory to inspect. They presented us goods properly cured. Not satisfied, we went back into their plant and found most product improperly cured. Trust and verify. We cited breach of contract with supporting proof. We also made sure we had a great interpreter so there wasn't cultural misunderstandings. They agreed to the breach and made restitution.

Communicating calmly and clearly starts with preparation. Assume the breach was not a purposeful event and do not personalize it. Have the mindset of giving your partner the benefit of the doubt and work to offer an environment for them to address the issue and explain their side.

Try and convey your understanding, the situation, the impact it is or may be creating and understand the perspective from the other side. This is important as it can reveal the real cause of the breach. When you communicate, ensure to convey that you want to work together with the concerned partner to resolve this, and help them overcome the breach. This will instill confidence, and help the other side feel secure in working ahead with you inspite of the situation.

Muy buenos planteamientos, a mi me ha dado resultado también la verificación en dos pasos para protección de mi información.

Be reasonable - I’ve led partnerships delivering public services where a partner has failed to meet commitments for reasons that are out of their control. Look for opportunities - it’s possible to negotiate a short-term change in the terms, so that you assume some of their work and subsequent commercial benefit, in order to deliver the service. Everybody wins.

The start of negotiating any resolution starts with asking, "what am I looking to extract for this breach by my partner." Once you have a clear idea of what the resolved state looks like, you can begin your work. Also, it is crucial to review any governing legal document. Not for the purpose of involving lawyers but to understand where you may be able to generate leverage and drive toward a solution more quickly.

Unfortunately, in the primary instance I can reference, we could not come to a firm resolution for both parties. The breach of partnership was too severe, making a win-win outcome too far away. In the spirit of Stephen Covey's "Win-Win or No Deal" mantra, we reduced the partnership to a simple supplier/purchaser agreement for the existing backlog of work and moved on. We lost a long-term customer, but the damage stopped there. Our review of the partnership concluded the partnership was too ambitious, and both sides had not considered some risks that manifested in the partnership.

Ask the other side to propose a solution or resolution first. This helps you to get a bigger perspective, and may bring on an insight that you did not think about. Convey that this can be a joint effort, and you are ready to support the partner. Your ultimate goal is to actually help the partner resolve the issue and challenge, and close the breach and actually continue working with you ahead.

Here are two important aspects to consider when starting a resolution agreement in a business setting — Resolving Disputes: Clearly outline how disagreements will be settled if the resolution agreement doesn't work out. This might involve using methods like arbitration, mediation, or bringing in an impartial third party. Knowing the steps for resolving disputes is essential. Protecting Confidentiality: Make sure to include rules about keeping sensitive information private in the agreement. Both parties should agree to safeguard their confidential data and valuable strategic insights. It's crucial to maintain the secrecy of important business information.

Partnerships are about relationships, and thus it is essential to first get a commitment from the partner that they are really willing to work with you ahead. Documentation will then support this willingness, and help define the roadmap of what will be achieved.

In my experience, this part is one of the hardest. It's imperative to work directly with your team and the partner team to make sure that issues are resolved and all relevant steps are properly being implemented. Confirm that whatever the reason they missed on the previous deliverable are adequately being addressed. It's also crucial to make sure emotions and history are not playing a role in the monitoring, as you try and have it be "business as usual" unless there is a second time when an organization fails to deliver or breaches. Keep it formal and then be prepared to take greater measures if necessary.

Work with your partner to implement the resolution and what has been agreed, instead of just waiting for the partner to deliver all the implementation. This will build a better bond, trust and rapport, and definitely celebrate success and the partnership once results are achieved. This can be a case study which can then be shared with other stakeholders and also maybe other partners, so it inspires them to visualize the possibilities of being successful together.

From my past experiences working with both Global Consulting partners and System Integrators is that for partnerships to deliver the impact for both companies you have to clearly defined JOINT value proposition, defined swim lanes (vertical / industry), the right incentives for both companies to drive business and lead generation with account mapping. If a partnership is not delivery the results it usually is one of those key factors are missing!