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DEVELOPING ANDMAINTAINING ASTRONGRELATIONSHIP WITHSTRATEGICALLIANCES 347a global nature.... Onmany, many fronts, we’re in for a
couple of decades of rattling, shaking and reorganization”
(Wilson, 1994). In 1994, the author did not realize the
complexities of the changes that were about to occur and
the speed at which the market would continue to do so.
Just as a person takes tests to help identify their
talents and personality type, and then embarks on a life-
long journey of self-improvement, businesses must con-
duct a checkup a minimum of at least once a year,
especially now with market changes occurring so rapidly.
There are experts in the field of organization identity and
branding that all businesses should involve from time to
time, at least to gain a different perspective from outside
of the organization. Key decision-makers should meet to
look at reorganizing or restructuring in order to meet the
needs and changes of the current market. The need to
constantly look at what you do, how you do it, and on
what are you spending money and resources cannot be
overemphasized. In the days of large corporate structures
and jobs that lasted 20 or 30 years, there may have been
an atmosphere that condoned complacency and waste. In
today’s market, however, “If you snooze, you lose.” If one
is not prepared to embrace change and constantly seek to
become better, one will almost immediately begin to lose
market share and marketability.
Who could have predicted that in one action American
Express, a huge corporate structure, would be taken to its
very core? The tragedy of September 11, 2001, and sub-
sequent closure of airports left American Express travel
customers stranded, trying to find a way home. Destroyed
corporate headquarters and a damaged technology infras-
tructure was a catastrophe American Express and other
companies could not have planned for. For weeks the
travel business nearly stood still. Although American Ex-
press had grown considerably over many years of success,
having been founded in 1850 and having added companies
and complexities to their organization, they had main-
tained the core mission of what they felt that they did
better than anyone else, to “provide world class customer
service.” When employees were unable to reach their man-
agers and customers were not able to connect with travel
guides, the essence of the company began to shine through
the chaos. Employees from other departments, unrelated
to travel customers, began to take frantic calls to help in
rerouting. Employees throughout the organization began
to pitch in to continue as much uninterrupted customer
service as possible, even though facilities destruction was
prolific. Phones were rerouted, technology was rerouted,
and customer service continued even with the absence
of strategic managers. The company was able to create
change immediately to address extreme circumstances
because individuals within the company had been trained
to know and understand that at the core, American Ex-
press focused on maintaining outstanding customer ser-
vice. The turnaround from losses caused by that fateful
day was extraordinary. Stories of heroic efforts made by
employees striving to continue to provide world-class ser-
vice to their customers abounded.
In the fast-moving business of e-commerce, every in-
dividual within a company must internalize a company’s
mission. The simple truth of the Golden Rule becomes
the dependable element particularly during a crisis. Thestory of American Express and its ability to recover from
the catastrophe of 2001 is further evidence of the impor-
tance of being conservative and cautious when seeking
like-minded, strategic alliance partnerships.Create Compelling Reasons for Others to
Seek Your Company as a Strategic Partner
Just as American Express continued to evolve its reputa-
tion of always maintaining outstanding customer service,
so did those companies wanting to partner with them.
While CollegeCapital knew that it had the best databases
and information regarding college preparatory, no one
else did. As they were reviewing the companies that might
be willing to partner with them, American Express seemed
to be a possible match. Identifying with a company that
demanded outstanding customer service could have its
challenges but would give an immense amount of credi-
bility for a young company. CollegeCapital had developed
information that could be used as an added benefit to the
customers American Express already serviced. The stu-
dent loan division of American Express, at that time, was
a natural fit.
In order to create partnerships, individuals or corpo-
rations must obviously be desirable partners and others
need to be able to recognize it. In forming a relationship
with a well-known partner, a smaller company will have
to establish evidence that they can bring a noticeable ben-
efit to them. When a corporation is great at producing a
certain product but is known for taking ruthless or less
than ethical business advantage over other businesses,
partnerships will be nearly impossible to maintain even
if an initial agreement is reached. People should seek per-
sonal associations with those who provide strength rather
than those who extract it and it is the same with strategic
alliance partners. The best e-commerce partners are those
that reflect positively on one another, creating greater sub-
stance, market share, and dynamic impact. The result,
hopefully, is a partnership that is greater than the sum of
each partner.DEVELOPING AND MAINTAINING A
STRONG RELATIONSHIP WITH
STRATEGIC ALLIANCES
Comparing Benefits
Partnerships are born from a leader’s vision of what can
be achieved with the right circumstances and assets. A
close look at competitors will typically reveal aspects of
companies that if joined together could create a stronger
market share for both companies or solve problems that
are occurring. In e-commerce, for instance, it makes little
sense to reinvent a software shopping cart system, even
if the exact nature of what is desired is not readily avail-
able. A close evaluation needs to reveal whether it would
be better to partner and share revenue with an existing
shopping cart developer to create a new one, which would
decrease future ongoing revenue, or to hire the work done
and continue to support it.
A similar figure used in Rackham et al.’sGetting Part-
nering Right(1996, p. 12) represents the intersections