TS ISO 44001

TS ISO 44001 addresses a management system approach for identifying, developing and managing collaborative business relationships in a structured way. Its focus is on moving relationship management away from an ad hoc or person-dependent practice and toward processes, roles and objectives that can be embedded in the organization.

A management system for collaborative relationships

In general technical terms, collaborative business relationships are more than commercial transactions: they involve shared objectives, governance, communication and agreed expectations between the parties. Collaboration can take many forms, including supplier-customer arrangements, alliances, partnerships, joint ventures, consortia and network-based operating models. The standard provides a framework for managing those relationship types in a disciplined and repeatable way.

Levels of application covered by the document

• A single application such as an operating unit, division, project, programme, merger or acquisition
• An individual relationship such as a one-to-one relationship, alliance, partnership, business customer arrangement or joint venture
• Multiple identified relationships including multi-partner alliances, consortia, joint ventures, networks and end-to-end supply chains
• Organization-wide application across all identified relationship types

The document is applicable to private and public organizations of all sizes, from multinational corporations and government organizations to non-profit entities and micro/small businesses. In broader technical context, a formal collaboration framework helps establish trust, transparency, role clarity and alignment of expectations, while the standard’s value lies in making those principles part of a management system rather than leaving them informal.