Better Together: Collaboration Over Competition
It’s easy to write off the current corporate management trend promoting collaboration over competition as a move to appease Millennial employees. After all, 88% of younger employees prefer working in a collaborative rather than competitive environment.
However, according to Laura Montini in her Inc. Magazine article Why Collaboration Wins Over Competition, many firms have found this approach significantly boosts innovation, productivity and communication in the process.
Vendor Implications
The collaborative approach isn’t just an internal trend. Some corporations now ask their vendors to cooperate—from coordinating parts designs to pairing marketing services partners. Using preferred lists, they invite firms with different specializations to work together as part of the same team.
While it can feel awkward at first—asking would-be competitors to work together—it makes sense. It lets the company bring together specialists in specific areas so only the best work is done on each project. Collaboration also lets participating firms focus on honing the skills they do best, without diluting time, talent, and budget by trying to be generalists and doing every task required by an engagement.
Why This Makes Sense for Printers
For commercial printers, establishing project-specific partnerships rather than trying to acquire specialized equipment and skills can deliver quicker and better results, along with very happy customers. After all, brand managers and ad agencies are increasingly looking for innovative solutions that require specialized capabilities to set their products apart.
As commercial printers and print finishers, it’s easy to enter a collaborative arrangement to expand capabilities without interfering with each other’s hard-won client relationships. Only the company with the contract needs to be customer-facing. All parties to a project are invested in the same goal: providing a solution that leads to the next piece of business from a satisfied client.
If you need a team player with specialty coatings expertise, contact us to speak with a multisensory screen printing expert.