An exploration of the nature and use of strategic alliances in the global marketplace.
This paper examines how in today’s globally competitive environment it is almost impossible to survive without the use of strategic alliances to some degree. It explores the nature of strategic alliances including, the forms of relationships, motives for creating alliances using real world examples, suggestions on how to effectively develop and manage a growing portfolio of alliances and the potential barriers and pitfalls. It also outlines the many lucrative opportunities and benefits companies could anticipate through successful alliance acquisition and management practices.
The task of identifying and creating valuable strategic alliances can be a daunting endeavor for many businesses. The MIT Sloan Management Review article titled, How to Make Strategic Alliances Work, suggests the use of a dedicated strategic alliance function to effectively manage and reap superior benefits from partnerships. The dedicated function coordinates all alliance-related activity within the organization and is charged with institutionalizing processes and systems to teach, share and leverage prior alliance-management experience and know-how throughout the company. This is a very resource intensive strategy, although necessary in some business environments.