Strategic Partnerships Management Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Advanced Certificate on completion
Who attends Partnership Directors, Business Development Directors and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 7 Nov 2026 Course code SD-LD-104

Before you join: Participants should have experience managing suppliers, customers, delivery partners, joint initiatives or other material external relationships.

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 can create market access, service capacity, technical capability and shared investment that an organisation cannot readily build alone. They also introduce divided priorities, unclear accountability, information risks and commercial tension. Public agencies working with delivery partners, banks collaborating with fintech firms, NGOs coordinating funders and implementers, and multinational businesses managing distributors all need leaders who can turn a promising relationship into measurable value without losing control of risk, governance or customer outcomes.

This course develops the leadership discipline required to design, establish and manage high-value partnerships. Participants examine partnership strategy, ecosystem mapping, partner selection, due diligence, joint business planning, commercial structures, governance, negotiation, performance management and exit planning. They learn to frame a clear partnership thesis, assess mutual value, set decision rights, manage executive sponsors, resolve disputes and maintain productive relationships through changing conditions.

Teaching combines focused briefings, sector-based case work, facilitated group analysis, negotiation simulations and practical planning. Cases reflect partnership issues such as a bank integrating a fintech service, a government agency coordinating outsourced delivery and a manufacturer managing a strategic distributor. Participants work with structured templates and leave with a partnership management toolkit, including governance, performance and risk artefacts that can be adapted to an active partnership.

The course is suited to senior managers who sponsor, negotiate or manage material relationships with external organisations. It is particularly relevant where partnership outcomes depend on several functions, senior stakeholders, contractual commitments and shared operational delivery.

What you will be able to do

  • Develop a partnership thesis linking strategic objectives, partner contributions and investment logic
  • Assess prospective partners using weighted scorecards, due diligence criteria and risk indicators
  • Design governance charters, RACI matrices and escalation routes for joint decision-making
  • Construct joint business plans with shared targets, milestones, resources and benefit measures
  • Negotiate commercial and operating arrangements using BATNA, interest-based bargaining and concession plans
  • Manage alliance performance through KPI dictionaries, service levels and quarterly business reviews
  • Apply ISO 31000 risk methods to partnership dependencies, disruptions and exit scenarios
  • Create a 90-day partnership leadership plan for an active business relationship

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Greater credibility when briefing executives on partnership value, risk and investment decisions
  • A repeatable method for assessing whether a prospective partner merits further commitment
  • Stronger negotiation preparation for complex multi-issue commercial discussions
  • Clearer authority when setting governance, escalation and performance expectations
  • Practical artefacts for managing an active partnership from onboarding through renewal

For your organisation

  • Better partner selection decisions before material time, funding and reputation are committed
  • Clearer governance that reduces delayed decisions, duplicated activity and unresolved issues
  • More disciplined tracking of shared benefits, service outcomes and commercial assumptions
  • Earlier identification of third-party, dependency and continuity risks
  • Improved retention or exit decisions based on evidence rather than relationship sentiment

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can define where partnerships create strategic value and prioritise the relationships that warrant leadership attention.

  • Partnership typology distinguishing strategic alliances, joint ventures, ecosystems and channels
  • Corporate strategy translated into partner-dependent growth, service and innovation objectives
  • Make-buy-partner analysis using transaction cost economics and resource dependence
  • Alliance portfolio mapping by strategic fit, interdependence and time horizon
  • Partnership thesis statements linking customer outcomes, capabilities and investment rationale
  • Executive sponsorship criteria, decision rights and escalation thresholds defined
  • Partner lifecycle stages from search through renewal, exit and transition

Participants can map partnership stakeholders and articulate a credible mutual-value proposition.

  • Stakeholder maps identifying sponsors, users, regulators, funders and delivery partners
  • Power-interest grids prioritising engagement by influence, legitimacy and urgency
  • Network analysis reveals brokers, dependency points and relationship gaps
  • Partner value propositions tailored to each party's strategic contribution
  • Mutual-value hypotheses tested against customer needs and operating constraints
  • Relationship maps distinguish formal authority from informal influence channels
  • Engagement sequencing aligns senior meetings, working groups and communications

Participants can evaluate prospective partners using strategic, operational, financial and integrity criteria.

  • Partner selection scorecards weighting strategic fit, capability, culture and risk
  • Financial due diligence reviews solvency, concentration, cash flow and investment capacity
  • Operational assessments test delivery maturity, controls, data and scalability
  • Integrity screening covers sanctions, anti-bribery, conflicts and adverse media
  • ISO 37001 considerations inform third-party anti-bribery due diligence
  • Reference checks validate claims, governance behaviour and prior partner performance
  • Decision papers document recommendation, reservations, mitigations and approval conditions

Participants can establish governance arrangements that support timely decisions and accountable delivery.

  • Governance charters define purpose, membership, authority, cadence and reporting
  • RACI matrices allocate accountable decisions across executive and operational forums
  • Joint steering committees separate strategic oversight from delivery management
  • Decision-rights matrices specify delegated authority, consent requirements and vetoes
  • Escalation protocols set triggers, response times, owners and dispute pathways
  • Information-sharing protocols classify commercial, personal and confidential data
  • Meeting architecture connects workstreams, governance forums and executive updates

Participants can translate partnership intent into shared plans, value measures and commercial assumptions.

  • Joint business plans convert partner intent into targets, milestones and resources
  • Value exchange models identify contributions, benefits, costs and dependencies
  • Pricing structures compare fixed fees, gainshare, revenue share and cost-plus
  • Benefit-realisation maps connect activities, outputs, outcomes and measures
  • Commercial assumptions register records volumes, margins, funding and currency exposures
  • Term-sheet provisions address scope, exclusivity, intellectual property and exit
  • Contract handoffs preserve negotiated intent within operational procedures

Participants can prepare and conduct partnership negotiations that protect value while preserving working relationships.

  • BATNA analysis establishes walk-away positions, alternatives and bargaining power
  • Interest-based negotiation separates stated positions from underlying business interests
  • Package design trades variables across price, risk, service and governance
  • Objective criteria anchor discussions using benchmarks, market data and precedent
  • Concession planning records conditional trades, sequencing and approval limits
  • Deadlock procedures use mediation, executive referral and structured issue resolution
  • Cross-cultural communication adapts directness, hierarchy, pace and decision protocols

Participants can lead the operating relationships, communication routines and issue ownership required for joint delivery.

  • Alliance manager roles coordinate commitments, dependencies, communication and issue ownership
  • Partner onboarding plans align teams, systems, contacts, training and milestones
  • Operating cadences combine daily delivery reviews with monthly performance forums
  • Relationship health checks assess trust, transparency, reciprocity and responsiveness
  • Knowledge-transfer plans protect continuity during staff changes and transitions
  • Boundary-spanning behaviours build credibility between internal functions and partner teams
  • Conflict resolution distinguishes task, process and relationship disagreements

Participants can measure joint performance, challenge variance and make evidence-based improvement decisions.

  • Balanced Scorecard measures financial, customer, process and capability outcomes
  • Shared KPI dictionaries define formulas, sources, owners, frequency and thresholds
  • Service-level agreements distinguish service targets, remedies, exclusions and reporting
  • Benefits dashboards track baselines, targets, realised value and variance explanations
  • Root-cause analysis uses five whys, fishbone diagrams and corrective actions
  • Quarterly business reviews test strategic relevance, performance and investment decisions
  • Data governance assigns quality checks, access rights and retention obligations

Participants can identify partnership risks, plan responses and manage disputes before they damage outcomes.

  • ISO 31000 risk registers capture cause, event, impact, owner and treatment
  • Dependency mapping identifies single points of failure and contingency requirements
  • Scenario planning tests regulatory shifts, supplier disruption and demand shocks
  • Risk appetite statements distinguish acceptable exposure from escalation conditions
  • Business continuity clauses establish notification, recovery and substitution obligations
  • Dispute-resolution ladders progress from working teams to arbitration provisions
  • Exit plans cover transition services, data return, communications and stakeholder protection

Participants can make renewal or exit decisions and create an action plan for strengthening partnership leadership.

  • Partnership reviews determine renew, expand, redesign, pause or exit decisions
  • Renewal assessments compare realised value against original strategic assumptions
  • Portfolio rebalancing reallocates attention, investment and executive sponsorship
  • Lessons-learned reviews capture transferability, missed signals and governance improvements
  • Stakeholder communications prepare messages for renewal, restructuring or termination
  • Personal 90-day action plans specify priorities, sponsors, milestones and measures
  • Leadership commitments establish review routines and accountability after course completion

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

What you take back to work

  1. Partnership thesis template
  2. Partner selection and due diligence scorecard
  3. Alliance governance charter and RACI matrix
  4. Joint business plan template
  5. Partnership KPI and benefits dashboard
  6. 90-day partnership leadership action plan

Who should attend

  • Partnership Directors — responsible for portfolio value, governance and senior partner relationships
  • Business Development Directors — need to convert strategic opportunities into viable partner arrangements
  • Alliance Managers — coordinate joint commitments, performance reviews and issue resolution
  • Commercial Managers — shape terms, value exchange and contractual accountability
  • Programme Directors — depend on delivery partners to achieve major programme outcomes
  • Procurement and Supplier Relationship Managers — manage strategic suppliers beyond transactional purchasing

Skills and tools covered

Partnership strategyAlliance governanceCommercial negotiationPartner due diligencePerformance managementRelationship leadership

Tools and standards

RACI matrix, BATNA, Balanced Scorecard, ISO 31000

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce methods, followed by case analysis, group exercises, negotiation simulations and structured application planning. Participants examine realistic partnership decisions involving governance failures, difficult commercial trade-offs, underperforming service arrangements and conflicting stakeholder expectations. Facilitated discussions compare approaches across sectors while keeping attention on decisions, evidence and accountabilities. Individual application planning helps participants adapt course tools to a current partnership, prospective alliance or strategic supplier relationship.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have experience managing suppliers, customers, delivery partners, joint initiatives or other material external relationships. They should understand their organisation's commercial objectives, approval processes and stakeholder structure, and be comfortable discussing budgets, performance data and contractual commitments. Prior experience of negotiations or governance forums is useful. The course does not require a legal qualification, formal project management certification, finance specialism or prior experience of joint ventures. Participants gain most value by bringing a current or planned partnership situation to consider during the course.

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 have experience with external suppliers, customers, delivery partners or strategic collaborators. They do not need legal, finance or project management qualifications, but should understand the type of relationship they manage.

Participants should bring a current or planned partnership situation, with non-confidential information on objectives, stakeholders, delivery challenges and performance measures. They can use this situation when developing their application plan.

The course is designed for senior managers, alliance managers, business development leaders, commercial managers and programme leaders. It is most useful for people accountable for relationships that affect material revenue, service delivery, investment or organisational reputation.

Supplier and contract management courses often focus on procurement process, contractual compliance and vendor performance. This course addresses strategic alignment, mutual value, executive governance, relationship leadership, negotiation and decisions about renewal or exit.

Participants leave with templates for partner assessment, governance, joint planning, performance management and risk control. These can be adapted for a prospective partnership, an underperforming alliance or an established strategic relationship.

The programme contains ten teaching modules delivered over five days, with approximately 6.5 contact hours each day. Time is divided between instructor input, case work, group analysis, simulations and structured application to participants' partnership situations.

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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