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she describes as‘ often forgotten’.“ I think most businesses have traditionally relied on law firms when things go wrong. But the focus should be on protecting relationships, and working out those tensions, rather than on how best to fight.”
Fay believes that conflict, disagreements and disputes can be a catalyst for positive outcomes and an opportunity for learning, understanding and improvement.“ If we reframe the way we look at a conflict, to remove the assumption that it is difficult, tedious or stressful, and instead treat it as a way to find improvements that can help us across the board with our operations and commercial relationships, then out of that comes competitive advantage, stronger relationships, and a stronger position in the market.”
This new mindset, based around dialogue and collaboration, helps build both internal and business resilience. By reducing workforce churn and the dependency on external legal advisors, resources can be allocated to other areas of the business, increasing investments and keeping revenue within the economy.
Focusing on manufacturing, Fay uses the recent tariff changes as an illustration of an issue causing conflict.“ Adding a change like tariff increases into supply chains with lots of moving parts brought a whole new level of difficulty to supplier, contract and delivery managers.
“ Essentially, the changes mean things are getting more expensive. Organizations must look for alternative supply routes, and new ways to find materials. There’ s not just a pricing issue; there’ s a logistical issue. Within organizations, business leaders are looking at the procurement and supplier teams and expecting a quick fix, but there’ s no real magic wand, and that can cause conflict. These different dynamics mean businesses must be adaptive, and taking a different
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