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Developing supplier relationships requires skills. These skills give rise to a set of competencies, which create benefits for the individual, the company and the wider community. This element shows to those who wish to improve their operating capacity that productive supplier relationship development is vital and does not come by focusing only on technical and managerial competence and contracts, but also on relational competence, goodwill trust and free mental space, which are necessary elements that unleash human creativity.

Principles of leadership are involved in the process. While many leadership models like John Adair's Action Centred Leadership emphasise on integrity, honesty, humility, courage etc., the model used in this element adds a further dimension - teaching, in the sense of coaching or mentoring, as well as providing an observable example of good practice. There is clear guidance on how to learn these skills of relationships and this element also points to further professional advice if the intention is to develop a strategic change project in this area.

Learning outcomes

After completing this element you should:

• Understand and appreciate that relationships matter and can influence productivity in innovation projects
• Understand the dynamics of trust in supplier relationships
• Have assessed what your supplier relationships are like now
• Be able to see what your supplier relationships need to be like
• Know of processes that help you to develop and improve productive supplier relationships

The element is available available here.

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