Strategic alliances
A strategic alliance is formed by two or more collaborative parties. This collaboration may take the form of both informal and formal collaborative agreements, joint ventures, and joint ownership.
One key motivation behind establishing strategic alliances is to gain access to resources the company is unable to secure in an open market. In addition, strategic alliances may be a good alternative to coordinating activities between companies in joint projects.
Strategic alliances are becoming ever more popular, and studies carried out in the American market suggest that the number of strategic alliances has increased by 25 percent in recent years.
Despite the advantages of strategic alliances, it turns out that many such alliances fail. The cause for their failure may be communication problems, fear of sharing critical resources, misunderstandings, and greed.
Prerequisites for achieving a beneficial collaborative environment
- The collaboration should include strategically important areas
- One must invest in the collaboration
- All parties need to make valuable contributions
- The collaboration should start out small and and develop gradually
- One must facilitate for an open flow of communication
- Trust and personal relationships are key