strategic alliance

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A. What factors should be considered in choosing a strategic alliance partner?

Some of the key considerations are:

First of all, it is extremely understand to understand the vision, mission and corporate culture of the proposed strategic alliance partner because unless there is a synergy in terms of the corporate culture, mission and objectives of the two partners, partnership will not be successful. Conflicting goals and objectives, culture mismatch and lack of coordination between the two independent firms can lead to failure of partnership and may not sustain in the long run. Therefore, one should select a strategic aliance partner whose culture resembles to that of your own organizational culture and whose goals and objectives fairly allign with those of yours.

Identfying common ground for partnership: Mutual benefit is vital to any partnership and, like any other relationship, the key is to think flexibly and pro-actively, and do the work to ensure that your strategic alliances are rich and prosperous for your business. One of the most important points to remember is not to force a partnership where the alliance is not a natural "win-win" situation. Look at scaling back that all-encompassing partnership arrangement to a strategic alliance in a particular area where you have common ground ? where there is mutual benefit.

Thus, it is not prudent to engage in a partnership which does not provide a beneficial situation to both the partners.

Fixed time frame: As the economy shifts and the competitive landscape of your industry changes, a strategic alliance that worked for your first three years may not fit anymore. A conscious re-evaluation date allows both parties some flexibility to access fresh talent as the businesses mature. Therefore, the partnership contract should allow for reevaluation of the partnership agreement after a stated period in order to allow companies to separate if things do not work out well due to external environmental changes in the future.

source: http://www.visa.ca/smallbusiness/articles/article.cfm?articleID=113&catID=20

Potential partners should also possess complementary skills. Each partner must contribute more than capital to the project, bringing other competencies into the venture. One firm ...