Competitive organisations collaborate together

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The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Foresight 2020 research identifies globalisation and knowledge management as two key trends that are set to have a significant impact on the way we work.

In an increasingly competitive economy, organisations are seeking new ways to evolve and survive. Many have realised that this competitive edge maybe gained via collaboration. By working virtually it is possible to collaborate across organisational, geographical, functional and temporal boundaries, drawing on collective knowledge and resource. Fortune 500 companies have already leveraged this potential business advantage with 2/3 work virtually.

Working virtually means organisations can collaborate without the physical boundaries imposed by traditional working. The most appropriate expertise and resource can be acquired from the around the world, enabling organisations to achieve their aims more efficiently, and more effectively.

There is nothing new or groundbreaking about intra-organisation collaboration whether it is with the department on the next floor, or with the office in Australia.
However, a new type of collaboration is emerging, fuelled by an increase in virtual working, new collaboration technologies and the value of knowledge; inter-organisation collaboration is bringing together vendors, suppliers, specialists, customers and partners – why is this?

Here are just some of the advantages such collaboration can create: 

  • Increased market knowledge
  • Lower operating costs
  • More resources
  • Increased service capacity, for example, chase the sun operating
  • Wider access to potential  business opportunities
  • Ability to be flexible in response to market demands
  • Wider range of expertise


Furthermore research clearly highlights the business benefits; a survey of 950 IT and business decision-makers found: 

  • Collaboration accounted for 36% of overall business performance
  • Collaboration had more than double the impact on performance than any other factor 
  • Profitability, profit growth and sales growth were the performance indices most strongly impacted by collaboration
  • Collaboration had the strongest positive effect in the areas of customer satisfaction, productivity and product quality


The imperative to collaborate is clear, the technology to enable it is evolving everyday, and services to support it, such as serviced and virtual offices are increasing, but for successful virtual collaboration to be achieved, organisations must also attend to the human element. In a virtual context the richness of interpersonal interactions are diminished due to reduced social and non verbal cues. Psychology and business research has shown that there are a number of activities, behaviours and skills that are associated with high performing virtual teams. By undertaking specialised people development, organisations can ensure they gain the competitive edge they are seeking from virtual collaboration.

This article was written by Bluestone Talent Management.

Business psychologists Bluestone Talent Management can help your business evolve, providing people development solutions that capitalise on the future. For information on our virtual/collaborative working programmes, including virtual leadership development and virtual team working, contact:

Email: rmillardevans@bluestonetm.com
Phone: +44 (0)20 8334 8082
Mobile: +44 (0)7854 569629
Web:  www.bluestonetm.com