Thinking · Global · 4 min read
The hidden value between companies
Companies are managed vertically and value increasingly sits horizontally — in the space between customer, company, partner and supply chain.
By Mark Eve
The boundary problem
Internal improvement programmes are bounded by the organisation chart. Everything inside it can be measured, owned and optimised. Everything outside it belongs to somebody else, so nobody is accountable for it — which is exactly why it stays unimproved.
That unowned space is where a surprising amount of margin, speed and customer value is sitting.
Where it usually hides
Four places recur across sectors.
- Duplicated work performed on both sides of a supplier relationship.
- Data one party holds that would materially change the other party's decisions.
- Customers a partner already reaches who would buy your proposition without additional acquisition cost.
- Capability one business has built and the other is about to build from scratch.
Why it stays hidden
Claiming this value requires a conversation neither party is incentivised to start, usually because it involves admitting what each cannot do alone. It also needs someone who can see both sides credibly.
The pay-off is that it rarely requires capital. It requires alignment, and alignment is a negotiation rather than an investment.
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