Strongest Link, the: Forging a Profitable and Enduring Corporate Alliance

Book Description
What does it take to build a successful corporate alliance? The dramatically high failure rate -- estimated at 60 to 75% -- suggests that alliance managers often lack the knowledge and skills to determine strategic fit, negotiate win-win agreements, align organizational cultures, and -- perhaps most important of all -- get people to work together productively. This book provides the practical guidance needed to make alliances work. In The Strongest Link, strategic alliance experts Slowinski and Sagal draw on over 40 years of experience working with companies to form strong, profitable collaborations, including AT&T, NEC, Battelle, Eli Lilly, and Procter & Gamble. Packed with stories of these and other companies, the book features exclusive, proven methodologies for planning, structuring, and negotiating an alliance, as well as strategies for training participants in collaborative management. The Strongest Link is a true field guide, a down-in-the-trenches look at how to avoid the troubles that plague so many alliance efforts and how to forge a collaborative link that adds value to all participants.


Book Info
Text describes proven methodologies for planning, negotiating, and structuring an alliance; using examples from AT&T, NEC, Battelle, Eli Lilly, Proctor and Gamble, and other companies in a broad range of industries. The authors present their Alliance Framework process, a blueprint easily adaptable to any form of business alliance. DLC: Strategic alliances (Business).


About the Author
Gene Slowinski, Ph.D. (Gladstone, NJ) and Matthew w. Sagal, Ph.D. (Marblehead, MA) are managing partners of the Alliance Management Group, a consulting firm specializing in strategic alliances. Dr. Slowinski is also Director of Strategic Alliance Research at the Graduate School of Management, Rutgers University. Dr. Sagal is a former executive with AT&T.


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The Strongest Link presents the authors' Alliance Framework[superscript SM] process, a blueprint that is easily adapted to any form of business alliance: distribution agreement, financial partnership, research venture, co-branding, sales alliance -- the list goes on. Each form demands clear communication of needs and goals, the open exchange of relevant information, and the ability to bridge gaps between multiple entities, management structures, and work styles. The Alliance Framework model is built on a six-step process. Steps 1 and 2 focus on appointing a planning and negotiating team. This team works toward identifying and resolving potential sources of disagreement and building the internal consensus necessary to move forward. Steps 3 and 4 take the process beyond your organization's walls, as you begin to assess the strategic compatibility and resource fit of potential partners. Steps 5 and 6 are the homestretch of the alliance-building process: selecting a carefully evaluated partner and negotiating the terms of the agreement.


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