One of the earliest documents on strategy was written by the Chinese general Sun Tzu (or Sunzi, The Art of War). Sun Tzu's Art of War says that the greatest generals gained victory without fighting any battles. They would use diplomacy, respect, reciprocity, fear, kindness, or any other psychological means to get what they want. Knowing what to want and what the other side desires increases the chance of bringing a conflict to a good ending by 50 percent, according to Sun Tzu. To achieve this, it is important to collect information about your current position, about the position of the opposite party, and to position yourself in the shoes of the opponent. Sun Tzu also brings in the element of timing — it is not only important to do the right thing; it is also important to act at the right moment.

Sun Tzu considers relationship management an integral component of military strategy. Good relationship management supports the military strategy, and in turn a good military strategy is the basis for successful relationship management. In this chapter, Relationship Management Strategy will be explored as a basis for establishing and strengthening a Strategic Relationship Management competency.

An active role for the Manager of the Network in the strategy debate of the organization

From an organization perspective, relationship management is an investment and therefore should deliver a return. To assess the return, and therefore the success of the relationship management activities, it is vital to understand how success is defined by the organization. What does the organization want to achieve? To be successful as a Manager of the Network it is important to understand the vision and strategy of the organization. The overall vision and strategy of the organization can be translated into a Networking Vision and a Relationship Management Strategy. The Relationship Management Strategy in turn is executed via the relationship management. This approach is a top-down approach. In this approach, it is important for the Manager of the Network to:

• • Understand what the ambition of the organization is (one year, three years, and five years from now).

• • Understand where (e.g. which markets, which customer needs, what policies) the organization wants to focus.