Strategic Alliances

Making It Work

By: Pamela Harper

   All too often companies form alliances that offer great promise in the beginning yet fail to deliver the results both parties anticipated. Instead, they become mired in strategic gridlock: persistent organizational problems that grind progress to a halt.  Consider the following scenario:

   A high tech company (HTC) created a strategic alliance with a manufacturing company (MC) to develop a new product. Both partners considered the potential for success extremely high, since each was considered a market leader in its respective industries. The management teams of both organizations conducted the necessary due diligence and secured contracts from each other. Everything seemed in place—until the kickoff meeting.

   While the alliance objectives were clear, the participants couldn’t agree on how they were going to work together. Representatives of the MC, working under highly structured project management...

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