AEB3802 Professional Culture And Collaboration

Rio Tinto Group is one of the world’s leading producers or diamond and mineral product. With its headquarters in London, UK, as well as Melbourne, Australia, the company has its business spread all across the globe. Although majority of the raw materials come from Africa, those African areas are still lagging behind in terms of socio-economic developments.

The company engages in partnership with multiple localized firms in different nations to enhance its business prospects. Rio Tinto has a long history of carrying out business through collaborative partnership with China and Japan (Riotinto.com 2018). In 2014, the CEO of Rio Tinto, Alan Davies attended the annual All-Star Weekend in New Orleans, US, where the National Basketball (NBA) had organized a conference aimed at improving the socio-economic status of the continent. This gave Davies a fine opportunity to pitch in for the company, which in turn, was directly related to the development of the African countries like Guinea or Mozambique, where Rio Tinto was hugely functional. Most of Rio Tinto’s partnership ventures has this aim of developing Africa in the undercurrent. These developmental programs and the business partnerships of Rio Tinto are mutually beneficial, complementing each other’s success. The partners, acting as investment groups, helps to ensure the safety and well-being of the local communities, which is of paramount importance for all the parties in the business venture, as it is these communities who constitute the main resources who are engaged in the work of extraction of the raw materials. The infrastructural development acts as a catalyst for growth of business opportunities, both through greater production as well as through the establishment of a customer base at the nations with whom the company collaborates. The collaborative partnership of Rio Tinto engages players from both the private as well as the public sectors, all of whom are offered a legitimate amount of stake in the project outcomes (Riotinto.com. 2018). Strategic use of collaborative partnership also helps the company to avoid risks.

All these propositions of mutual benefit through collaborative partnership were forwarded to the NBA officials by Davies through a course of meetings and discussion, which resulted in the arrangement of the 1^st NBA game on African soil at Johannesburg, South Africa on August 2014 (NBA.com. 2018). It was also a favorable opportunity for NBA to improve its brand equity as well as business prospects, for which it had already engaged in collaborative partnership with corporate stakeholders, governmental as well as non-governmental organizations. In order for collaborative partnership to be effective, both Rio Tinto and NBA must engage in constructive discussions where the interests of both the parties will be adequately communicated across all the individuals and stakeholders, and acknowledged by all. Such communication can lead to shared ideals and a value-based rationale, in this case that of developing Africa through collaborative business processes. Other than the conventional audit and financial reports on a biannual basis, reporting mechanisms like those pertaining to the assessment of on-job performance or the rate of brand value enhancement through CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) Reporting may be used in this case (Michelon, Pilonato and Ricceri 2015).

Therefore, it may be concluded by saying that the collaborative partnership of Rio Tinto and NBA was a successful one with both the parties having considerable experience in this domain of joint business ventures, where both have been successful. In spite of widespread debates about capitalistic and colonial domination of Africa, this venture shows signs improving the lifestyle of the African communities who are directly or indirectly associated with it.

References

Michelon, G., Pilonato, S. and Ricceri, F., 2015. CSR reporting practices and the quality of disclosure: An empirical analysis. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 33, pp.59-78.

NBA.com. 2018. NBA Announces First-Ever Game In Africa On Aug. 1. [online] Available at: https://www.nba.com/global/nba_announces_firstever_game_africa_2015_04_22.html [Accessed 9 Oct. 2018].

Riotinto.com. 2018. Building Partnerships in Africa. [online] Available at: https://www.riotinto.com/documents/Media-Speeches/130513_Building_Partnerships_in_Africa_Alan_Davies.pdf [Accessed 9 Oct. 2018].

Riotinto.com. 2018. Trade and partnerships. [online] Available at: https://www.riotinto.com/ourcommitment/trade-and-partnerships-24288.aspx [Accessed 9 Oct. 2018].