Strategic Partnerships and Joint Ventures Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Advanced Certificate on completion
Who attends Business Unit Directors, Strategy Directors and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 9 Nov 2026 Course code SD-EM-076

Before you join: Participants should have experience contributing to commercial decisions, strategic planning, procurement, business development, programme delivery or corporate development.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Strategic partnerships, joint ventures and consortia can provide market access, specialist capability, capital, technology, distribution channels and delivery capacity that an organisation cannot efficiently build alone. They also create material exposure: incompatible objectives, weak partner diligence, unclear decision rights, unbalanced economics, regulatory constraints and disputes over intellectual property can destroy value before the arrangement reaches scale. Senior managers need a disciplined way to decide when collaboration is preferable to acquisition, contracting or internal investment.

This course equips participants to design, negotiate and manage partnership structures from strategic rationale through implementation and exit. Participants assess collaboration opportunities using make-buy-partner analysis, develop partner-selection criteria, complete commercial and operating due diligence, select appropriate alliance or joint-venture structures, and build governance arrangements with clear reserved matters and escalation routes. The course also addresses consortium formation, bid-stage collaboration, competition-law boundaries, value sharing, performance management, dispute resolution and termination planning.

Teaching combines short instructor briefings with sector-based cases, structured group work, negotiation simulations and document-review tasks. Cases reflect situations encountered in infrastructure delivery, banking distribution, public-private partnerships, technology alliances and cross-border market entry. Participants apply the methods to a current or planned collaboration and leave with a partnership business case, partner assessment scorecard, governance design and first-year mobilisation plan that can be refined with legal, finance and operational colleagues.

The course is suited to executives and senior managers who sponsor, structure or govern material collaborations. It is particularly relevant where organisations must combine assets, capabilities or market positions while retaining accountability for financial returns, service delivery, compliance and stakeholder relationships.

What you will be able to do

  • Evaluate collaboration opportunities using make-buy-partner analysis and strategic-fit criteria
  • Construct a partnership business case with value drivers, assumptions and decision gates
  • Assess prospective partners using weighted scorecards, due diligence and red-flag analysis
  • Select suitable alliance, consortium or joint-venture structures for stated objectives
  • Design governance models with reserved matters, decision rights and escalation paths
  • Negotiate term sheets covering contributions, economics, intellectual property and exits
  • Build mobilisation plans with milestones, accountabilities, risks and performance measures
  • Manage partnership performance using dashboards, review cadences and dispute-resolution mechanisms

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Improved judgement on when partnership is preferable to acquisition, contracting or internal delivery
  • A repeatable method for challenging weak strategic rationales before resources are committed
  • Greater confidence leading partner discussions on governance, economics and accountability
  • Practical language for briefing legal, finance, procurement and operational advisers
  • A usable plan for advancing a live partnership or joint-venture opportunity

For your organisation

  • Better partner selection through documented strategic-fit and diligence criteria
  • Clearer governance that reduces decision delays, duplicated effort and accountability gaps
  • Stronger commercial terms covering contributions, value sharing and exit triggers
  • Earlier identification of regulatory, operational, financial and reputational risks
  • Faster mobilisation of approved alliances, consortia and joint ventures

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can determine whether a partnership, joint venture or consortium is strategically justified.

  • Make-buy-partner analysis comparing internal development, acquisition, contracting and collaboration
  • Strategic intent translated into measurable market, capability and financial objectives
  • PESTLE and Five Forces testing collaboration pressure and industry structure
  • Value chain mapping identifies assets, bottlenecks and complementary capabilities
  • Resource-based view distinguishes strategic assets from easily purchased services
  • Real-options thinking stages commitments under uncertainty and changing demand

Participants can prepare a decision-ready business case for a proposed collaboration.

  • Theory of change links collaboration activities to outcomes and benefits
  • Value-driver tree separates revenue growth, cost savings and risk reduction
  • Assumption log records evidence, owners, confidence levels and validation dates
  • Scenario analysis compares base, upside and downside commercial cases
  • Decision gates define evidence thresholds before progressing investment commitments
  • Benefits-realisation plan assigns measures, baselines, targets and accountable owners

Participants can identify, screen and assess partners against strategic and delivery requirements.

  • Partner longlist built from capability, market access and strategic-fit criteria
  • Weighted scorecard ranks candidates using transparent evidence and scoring rules
  • Commercial due diligence tests financial health, pipeline quality and customer concentration
  • Operational due diligence examines capacity, systems, delivery record and dependencies
  • Integrity screening covers sanctions, beneficial ownership, conduct and reputational concerns
  • Cultural due diligence tests decision speed, risk appetite and management style

Participants can select an appropriate legal and operating structure for collaboration objectives.

  • Non-equity alliance structures retain separate entities and contractual coordination
  • Equity joint ventures combine capital, governance rights and shared ownership
  • Consortium agreements allocate bid roles, liabilities and delivery responsibilities
  • Special purpose vehicles ring-fence projects, assets, financing and contractual obligations
  • Memoranda of understanding distinguish exploratory intent from binding commitments
  • Structure selection assesses control, duration, investment, risk and regulatory constraints

Participants can design governance arrangements that support timely, accountable joint decisions.

  • Governance architecture separates shareholder, board, management and delivery forums
  • Reserved matters protect decisions on capital, strategy, appointments and disposals
  • RACI matrix clarifies accountabilities across partner and joint-venture teams
  • Delegated authorities set financial limits, approval routes and exception handling
  • Decision-rights matrix distinguishes consultation, consent, veto and delegated decisions
  • Escalation ladder resolves operational disagreements before senior-level intervention

Participants can structure contributions, economics and incentives to align partner behaviour.

  • Contribution schedule values cash, assets, people, intellectual property and access
  • Profit-sharing formulas reflect capital, risk, performance and market contributions
  • Transfer-pricing principles govern related-party services, goods and management charges
  • Open-book accounting improves cost visibility and validates shared savings claims
  • Incentive design links rewards to agreed outcomes, quality and service levels
  • Sensitivity analysis tests economics against volume, price, cost and delay changes

Participants can prepare and conduct negotiations for a balanced, implementable partnership agreement.

  • BATNA analysis defines alternatives, walk-away points and negotiation priorities
  • Interest-based negotiation separates stated positions from underlying commercial needs
  • Term sheet structures scope, contributions, governance, economics and exit provisions
  • Issue-trading matrix exchanges lower-priority concessions for higher-value commitments
  • Negotiation mandate sets authorities, red lines, approvals and communication protocols
  • Meeting records capture provisional agreements, open issues and named actions

Participants can identify collaboration risks and specify practical contractual and management controls.

  • Risk register categorises strategic, financial, operational, legal and reputational exposures
  • ISO 31000 principles guide risk ownership, treatment and monitoring arrangements
  • Competition-law boundaries control information exchange, bidding conduct and market allocation
  • Intellectual-property schedule defines background rights, foreground rights and permitted use
  • Data-processing clauses assign controller, processor, security and breach responsibilities
  • Audit rights test records, controls, performance evidence and compliance obligations

Participants can plan the transition from signed agreement to effective joint operation.

  • Mobilisation plan sequences legal close, staffing, systems and customer communications
  • Critical-path method identifies dependencies, milestones, float and delivery risks
  • Operating model specifies processes, interfaces, service levels and reporting routines
  • Day-one readiness checklist covers authorities, bank accounts, systems and communications
  • Change-impact assessment identifies affected teams, roles, policies and stakeholder concerns
  • Thirty-sixty-ninety-day plan assigns priorities, owners, deliverables and review points

Participants can manage alliance performance, resolve disputes and prepare orderly exits.

  • Balanced scorecard tracks financial, customer, process and capability performance
  • Joint performance dashboard reports targets, variance, root causes and corrective actions
  • Quarterly business reviews test strategy, benefits, risks and relationship health
  • Dispute-resolution clause stages negotiation, mediation, expert determination and arbitration
  • Deadlock mechanisms address equal voting, impasse and unresolved reserved matters
  • Exit plan covers valuation, transition services, customer continuity and communications

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Partnership opportunity business-case template
  2. Weighted partner due-diligence scorecard
  3. Joint-venture governance and reserved-matters matrix
  4. Partnership term-sheet template
  5. Alliance mobilisation and 90-day action plan
  6. Partnership performance dashboard and review checklist

Who should attend

  • Business Unit Directors — accountable for growth, market entry and major collaboration decisions
  • Strategy Directors — responsible for assessing partnership options against acquisition and internal investment
  • Commercial Directors — lead deal structures, commercial terms and negotiation mandates
  • Programme Directors — coordinate multi-party delivery arrangements and operating interfaces
  • Investment and Corporate Development Managers — evaluate joint ventures, minority investments and partner economics
  • Public Sector Partnership Leads — structure delivery alliances, consortia and public-private arrangements

Skills and tools covered

Partnership strategyPartner due diligenceJoint venture governanceCommercial negotiationConsortium managementAlliance performance management

Tools and standards

PESTLE analysis, Porter's Five Forces, ISO 31000, Balanced Scorecard

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short briefings to introduce decision models, governance patterns and commercial methods, followed by facilitated case analysis. Participants examine partnership documents, compare alternative structures, conduct partner assessments and prepare negotiation positions. Group exercises address consortium formation, joint-venture governance and disagreement escalation. A negotiation simulation tests term-sheet choices and trade-offs between control, capital, risk and returns. Individual application planning translates the material into actions for a current collaboration, approval decision or partner review.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have experience contributing to commercial decisions, strategic planning, procurement, business development, programme delivery or corporate development. They should be comfortable reading business cases, financial assumptions and contractual summaries, although legal drafting expertise is not expected. Familiarity with their organisation's approval processes, risk requirements and current partnership priorities will help participants apply the course directly. No prior joint-venture experience, finance qualification, legal qualification or specialist mergers-and-acquisitions background is required. The course explains the commercial and governance implications of legal structures without offering legal advice.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants should understand how their organisation evaluates investments, commercial opportunities or delivery arrangements. Prior joint-venture, legal or finance specialist experience is not required.

Bring a current or recent partnership, consortium or joint-venture situation where possible. Participants may bring non-confidential business cases, governance charts or term-sheet extracts, subject to employer rules.

It suits senior managers who sponsor, structure, negotiate or govern material collaborations. Strategy, commercial, programme, investment, public-sector partnership and business-unit leaders will gain direct value.

Procurement courses focus primarily on sourcing suppliers and managing buyer-supplier contracts. This course addresses mutual strategic commitments, shared governance, contributions, value sharing, joint decision-making and exit arrangements.

Participants leave with templates for assessing an opportunity, screening partners, designing governance and planning mobilisation. These can support a live approval paper, partner review, negotiation preparation or alliance reset.

The programme contains ten teaching modules delivered in sequence across five 08:30-16:30 training days, with approximately 6.5 contact hours daily. Time is divided between instructor input, case analysis, group tasks, negotiation simulation and application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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