When you think about giving the shirt off your back as it relates to a joint venture, how do you think you would answer this cliché question? Do you or do you not give the shirt off your back for the sake of success? Using the usual meaning of this expression, that there is generosity to the point of giving what might be your last possession, how does it support the ultimate success of your Joint Venture? Or can you be both selfless and selfish in a joint venture and be successful?
New markets: In 2000 I was fortunate to have a one-week experience training the leaders of one of the largest organizations in Mauritius. The tiny South African island country of Mauritius has a reputation for being a melting pot of cultures that at the same time exists with a national unity belief, like no other place in the world. As Mauritius partners with industrialized nations, the foreign investment creates new opportunities for entrepreneurs. This creates expansion into totally new markets, quite possibly not open before by either side. Mauritius, a developing country, is a metaphor for a developing entrepreneur: bring in a melting pot of personal cultures and create one larger belief to be able to give something to the greater success of a broader new market. Even though Mauritius is now exposed to the global economy to a greater degree, it is thriving more than it likely would have all on its own.
New product development: In most joint ventures, new product development comes from the combined efforts of the collaborating parties. At some point of attraction which bring the parties together, there may have been spoken or unspoken, “Hey, we are speaking a similar message, and we are providing a similar product, but in different ways. So how could we take this all to another, higher level?” Joint Venture partners are able to combine their knowledge, expertise and experience. Ideas to create new products that could be very appealing to their respectivecustomers and clients (current and prospective) come out of that sharing. New contacts come along the way as their JV partnership grows and evolves. With proper structuring and respectful communication, no one loses their shirt.
Giving style balance: Hewitt Associates research on joint venture success found that one main reason of several for JV difficulties is that there are often conflicting corporate cultures and operational styles. Entrepreneurs may find this also to be the case with their unique giving styles. For instance, when you combine what two or more JV partners have to offer, you have more tangible and intangible resources on hand to use. One intangible resource is giving. Too much giving on either side of the equation can often spell trouble. If you give to the degree of never monetizing efforts, then this can become either an issue for opposition or an issue that doesn’t get addressed and one partner may walk away. If at the other extreme, there is a hoarding of giving, the same fracture of the relationship can occur. With leverage and balance of two or three different giving styles at the same time, risk goes down and financial success goes up. In the creation of new products and new markets, giving becomes more like the back only taking off it’s shirt.
With about 30 to 61 percent of joint ventures failing or fading away within 5 years, the art of balancing selfless and selfish is key. New products, new markets are possible in the most successful of joint ventures by strengthened giving styles. By not giving the shirt off your back, you can be both selfish (maintain individual integrity) as well as selfless (reaching to new markets and products).
Are you in a joint venture? Is your combined giving style strengthening or weakening your new products or new markets? Tell me what your findings are.
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