With the global economy now a reality, the objectives of becoming internationally competitive and world class are imperatives for all successful businesses entering the new millennium. Critical to this success and to the development of sustainable competitive advantage will be the quality of relationships developed between customers and suppliers both internal and external to the organisation. Organisations worldwide have been using The Strategic Partnering Handbook as a guide for creating successful partnerships and alliances, and improving their customer and supplier relationships generally. Building on the principles and practices detailed in the first and second editions, this third edition presents new and updated case studies, new anecdotes, and additional concepts and research data while continuing to provide a practical framework that looks at the who, how, when, where, and why of partnerships and alliances. It enables the reader to: gain a clear understanding of strategic partnering and alliance relationships, the supporting principals, concepts and practices and the relevance for their organisation; understand the organisational culture, strategy, structure, process and people required to support these new customer/supplier relationships; learn how to effectively implement the 12 partnering steps; gain knowledge, ideas and inspiration from current industry case studies and best practices; link relationship performance, measurement and remuneration; develop the skills and tools to take your partnerships and alliances to the next level(s). This book is of great value for all partnering and alliance practitioners and will arm them with fresh tools and skills to build successful and sustainable customer/supplier relationships well into the new millennium.