In today’s business world, most organisations rely on increasingly critical and often complex relationships with third parties. Value creation frequently hinges on the effective management and control of the “extended enterprise” created by these relationships. Management have probably realised the need for extending enterprise to create value – alliances, supplier partnerships, joint ventures, outsourcing – but have your risk management and control frameworks kept pace with this evolution? What assurance do businesses have that they are working effectively or are even fit for purpose in the extended enterprise?

Organisations are experiencing considerable leakage of value by not effectively managing these relationships. Are your activities fitting snugly with those of your partners or are they leaking value?

Are your alliances, partners, outsourcers, distributors and licensees operating effectively delivering your business objectives? Are your critical business relationships achieving their potential?

Issues may have already arisen about the contractual and operational arrangements that you have. Issues may have emerged in relation to the business protocols that have emerged as the relationship has developed. It may just be that no-one has looked at the relationship recently or in a sufficiently thorough, risk focused way.