Alliancing beyond projects: the practice of Business Relationship Management

AAA defines “Alliancing” as the set of business skills, practice and systems which allow the successful development and management of collaborative business engagements including: Collaborative procurement and delivery of projects and services and Strategic Business-to-Business Alliances.

Alliancing is not about delivering projects. It is first and foremost about managing business relationships to achieve a business objective. It is about managing a network of business relationships with the stakeholders that enable a business unit to accomplish its business objectives. The quintessencial role of business is to manage productive relationships. In that context, the association has a role of catalyst in the development of the necessary knowledge, skills, practice and processes that lead to successful relationship management.

Strategic means that the outcome of the collaborative engagement has a direct impact on "Shareholder" value. In the case of Public Sector infrastructure collaboration, the shareholders are the citizens, government, business or private entities who use an infrastructure for value-generating activities for themselves, their organisation, for industry or for the Nation.

Collaboration in the business world

The Alliancing Association of Australasia (AAA) was formally established in January 2006 as an incorporated entity to create a wider understanding on the best application, benefit and practice of working with alliances and collaborative contracting.

AAA was formed to serve organizations and their professionals involved in collaborative procurement and delivery of projects and services and in strategic alliancing in Australia and New Zealand (A-NZ) reflecting the specific opportunities, challenges and particularities of the region. AAA is focused on providing a forum where industry practitioners can join into discussions to address the challenges and opportunities for collaboration to enhance the delivery capabilities of businesses and government organisations in the region.

The association exists in recognition of the shift in the pattern by which Australian and New Zealand organisations increasingly employ alliances and collaborative contracting business practices to improve their outcomes and strengthen their competitive position.

The Centre for Collaborative Contracting is an independent initiative from the Alliancing Association of Australasia focusing on advancing the state of excellence in the application and management of collaborative business engagements in the delivery of public, commercial, industrial or social infrastructure projects or services.

Collaborative contracting, as a field of study or science, is at the cross road between several important fields of knowledge intervening together to support the fundamental capabilities required in the successful management of complex multi-parties business engagements, Joint ventures, virtual project organisations and multi-disciplinary teams. These include:
• Strategic business management
• Advance Project management
• Team development and peak performance management
• Industry technical knowledge


Association Membership: an investment in your industry development

The funding of the association's activities comes essentially through the support of our members who pay an annual membership fee. Full Membership provides free and discounted access for all employees of the member organisation to attend all of association activities and events in Australia and New Zealand. Full membership also provides access or to all our resources, case study and research materials and full access on-line.