Other times, small companies don't hand off work—they join together to get something done. Businesses might team up to negotiate a volume discount, lobby for regulatory changes or land contracts neither would be big enough to get independently, says Gregory Fairchild, E. Thayer Bigelow associate professor of business administration at the University of Virginia's Darden Graduate School of Business. But the terms of these partnerships should be spelled out in advance, he warns. Among other things, he says, companies should agree on how to divide up work, who will lead and how the ...