Offices for External Consultation and Alliances Office of Strategic Alliances (OSA)

The Office of Strategic Alliances

Introduction

A strategic alliance is an agreement between two or more parties to pursue a set of agreed upon objectives needed while remaining independent organizations. The Faculty of Pharmacy is seeking to further develop and grow its service offering to healthcare professional and the community as well as being a key leader in evolving the nature of pharmacy practice and education in Kuwait, in line with international practices. The most common way to grow is through the development of a strategic partnership network; they can help to make programs and projects relevant, more successful and more efficient. Strategic alliances can take different forms, have different objectives depending on the nature of the association and be highly influenced by the local environment and needs. Potential partners include counterpart associations, government agencies, publishers, congress organizers, management companies, industry or other for-profit entities.

The Office of Strategic Alliances would be responsible for the development of such alliances to achieve the following goals:

• Promote the Faculty’s educational products (eg CPD) and services (eg specialized laboratory testing) to a broader user base.
• Jointly develop and enhance pharmacy education in Kuwait by partnering with organizations that have services or skills complementary to those of the Faculty, eg: assessment strategies, quality improvement, teaching of clinical pharmacy, etc.
• Join forces with local counterparts to drive a common agenda, eg advocacy or legislative agenda for mandatory CME credits for practising pharmacists, acceptance and implementation of an expanded scope of pharmacy practice, establishment of standards of pharmacy practice, etc.

Such strategic alliances will enable the Faculty to capitalize on the individual strengths of each partner organization, provide contacts and links to local communities and stakeholders who may be critical to the success of the launch or implementation of projects and services. In addition, it involves shared responsibility and accountability for the development and execution of programs or services and provides more efficient opportunities and expertise for each participating organization. Having a dedicated office will allow us to follow up more closely on our different initiatives and be more responsive when new partners solicit us or new projects are proposed to us.

Mandate

The office will be responsible for:

1. Mapping areas of interest for strategic alliances and prioritizing them
2. Identifying external partners with whom to create alliances
3. Responding to external request for partnership with the Faculty
4. Developing and implementing contractual agreements with external partners
5. Obtaining approval from the Dean’s Executive Committee for the proposed alliances
6. Developing objectives and action plans for each identified partner
7. Acting as the main point of contact for external partners
8. Following up on action plan and reporting on progress