3.8
PARTNERING FOR SUCCESS: JOINT VENTURES
AND STRATEGIC ALLIANCES
Contributed by Mel Blitzer and inspired by Michael Schrage.As we enter the second millennium, organizations large and small, private and public, local
and transnational are joining forces—forming alliances—from the most informal of agree-
ments through to joint ventures and mergers. Known as strategic alliances, collaborative rela-
tionships, or cooperative ventures, these arrangements help organizations to:
✔ Face the challenges of a complex, constantly shifting business environment.
✔ Keep pace with technological innovation.
✔ Meet the pressures of globalization.At the development and implementation stage, strategic alliances can become quite com-
plex, especially when the organizations involved have little history of working with each
other. This is when having an alliancing model like the one presented here can be invaluable
in helping to sort out and track the alliance development process.
THE STRATEGIC ALLIANCE DEVELOPMENT CYCLE
Conceptual and technical collaboration form the basis of successful alliances.
Conceptual collaboration:
➠ The overarching intent of the proposed alliance is developed. People devise concepts,
ideas, themes, and strategies, and outline the nature and possible solutions to organi-
zational problems. A useful analogy is a group of people planning to build a house
together. Conceptual collaboration would give everyone a clear idea and picture of
how the house will look. This may go as far as detailed blueprints of the house.Technical collaboration:
➠ The alliance is built based on the agreed project concept or blueprint. This involves
bringing people with complementary skills together to accomplish a specific task—in
our analogy, building a house.When combined, conceptual and technical collaboration can be used to construct a four-
stage model of alliancing.
92 SECTION 3 TOOLS FORSTRATEGICTHINKING