Improving Relationships on a Major Defence Programme

30 October 2024
Aerospace & Defence

As part of £400m programme to support critical UK assets, a Major Defence Contractor had engaged a leading Engineering Consultancy to provide a managed service covering mechanical engineering and safety case aspects of the programme.

After several months the relationship was struggling. Only a fraction of the work expected had been committed to the Consultant, and the Contractor’s lead engineers were unhappy with the quality of the service being provided. At this time the relationship between the two companies was strained and the future of the managed service was in doubt.

Directors from both companies sat on a Joint Management Board, and they committed to making the managed service work. It was agreed that an independent specialist in Business to Business (B2B) relationships, would be engaged to work with both companies to identify the root causes of the problems in the relationship and potential actions to improve the performance of the managed service.

RelationSHAPE: The key to successful Business to Business relationships

The RelationSHAPE portfolio is a unique capability developed over 20 years of proven research carried out at Warwick, Bath, Gloucester and more recently UCL universities. This capability enables both parties to understand and agree the inhibitors and root causes which are preventing the relationship from delivering to its maximum potential.

It was identified that the best approach for the managed service would be to use the RelationSHAPE process which enables the relationship to be jointly characterised and measured.

The RelationSHAPE process

The four phase RelationSHAPE process was used to assess the relationship between the two organisations to identify and measure hard and soft issues impacting the relationship using a novel technique called semantic differentials.

Phase 1: one-to-one interviews were held with key players from both organisations to develop individual impressions of the relationship.
Phase 2: each organisation formed a group impression of the relationship.
Phase 3: the joint team developed a final co-developed impression of the relationship.
Phase 4: the joint team developed a weighted action plan with joint objectives to improve the relationship.
Phase 5: once the actions were completed the team reconvened to review the relationship to ensure it was now meeting its objectives.

This process led to a greater understanding of the root causes and the actions needed to improve the relationship.

The results

Through this process it was discovered that the root cause of the relationship breakdown was a failure in planning and communication.

The reason for the Consultant’s underperformance was the limited lead time provided by the Contractor before issuing a request for work. This meant the Consultant couldn’t free up more experienced staff to work on the task. When the Contractor’s technical leads met the engineer allocated to the work, they were concerned at their limited experience and felt their work was not being given priority.

Four actions were set, delivered by joint working groups, and this resulted in a 3 month look-ahead and a substantial pipeline of work which was dealt with by the Consultant’s most experienced staff. Quality improved and the Contractor was content to place its critical work items with the managed service.

The power of an effective relationship

he managed service, which was close to being cancelled, went from strength to strength and many years later it is still thriving.

The relationship between the two organisations has continued to develop and more companies have been included, but the essential format of the arrangement is still the same. The Contractor is recognised for managing an extended supply chain, and the enhancement of industry-relevant skills within the UK has meant they have been able to take on even larger projects than before. The Consultant is a still key player and the Contractor is one of their key clients in the Defence sector.

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