The Partnering Group, NACDS Study Joint Business Planning in "Creating Value Together"

PRESS RELEASE

June 18, 2014, Arlington, Va. —The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) Retail Advisory Board and global strategy firm The Partnering Group today released a report to help retailers and suppliers establish joint business plans to align and optimize shared business goals.

The report, “Creating Value Together,” identifies ten key industry findings to help companies establish strong joint business plans with their trading partners. Joint business planning is a collaborative process between a retailer and/or distributor and a manufacturer and/or supplier in which both parties align on short- and long-term financial goals for their shared business.

“According to the findings in this report, one of the biggest challenges is the amount of time it takes to complete a joint business plan with a trading partner,” said NACDS President and CEO Steven C. Anderson, IOM, CAE. “The NACDS Retail Advisory Board has been actively engaged in overcoming that hurdle. Working with NACDS member companies and with The Partnering Group, ‘Creating Value Together’ explores methods to help simplify the process and allow trading partners to expand the number of companies with which they conduct JBPs. We are pleased to share the report’s results with the industry today.”

The NACDS Retail Advisory Board makes recommendations to the NACDS Board of Directors on front-end issues, and helps to shape NACDS’ member programs and services.

“Joint business planning should be looked at as both a business strategy and a business process,” said Peter Leech, managing director, The Partnering Group. “These properly executed plans create incremental value in a relationship between trading partners. This process is not in lieu of a category plan, it is much more.”

The report also identifies the leading characteristics of joint business plans, methods and tools to maximize business outcomes, and recommendations for driving maximum efficiency and effectiveness.

The “Creating Value Together” executive summary and full report are available on the NACDS website. In addition, a toolkit is also available, providing templates, workbooks and other resources to help companies get started and manage the development of their joint business plans.