Case Study: Business facilitation

Background
A British certification company had been negotiating with a Chinese company for three years on a Joint Venture partnership, but hadn’t been successful. This was vexing for both parties as the deal would have the potential to be hugely mutually beneficial.
Client brief
The client’s brief to ACTIVE Anglo Chinese Communications was to re-activate the contract (which had been inactive for two years), find out where the problem was, find a way of resolving it and then move the project forward.
Our approach
We listened very carefully to our client about the issues that the British company had had so far, studied the draft contract and correspondence, and had in-depth conversations with all staff members on the subject. We then initiated a visit to the Chinese company in China where we replicated our approach with the management team there.
During our visit, we explored both companies’ points of view. There had been a few misunderstandings between the two parties, but they had never really communicated with each other; bouncing emails from one to the other, often in broken English didn’t work well.
Our solution was to establish clear lines of communication and to agree new protocols, creating a new start for the business relationship.
Outcomes
After our intervention, the contract was signed within a year and the Joint Venture went from strength to strength. The British company increased their profile in the global market and the venture generated a sound profits.
Due to its excellent communication support, ACTIVE was offered a long-term retainer to continue its involvement to facilitate the subsequent board meetings, trouble-shooting and other related business facilitation.