What is a strategic alliance?
A strategic alliance describes the link between two or more economically independent companies that cooperate on certain business activities and thereby benefit from one another.
The potential
Alliances and partnerships are attractive to organisations because they are flexible. That is why they require careful planning and good management: How can organisations find the right business partners? How can they develop a common language that is understood by all parties? How can a collective set of values become the underlying base for mutual trust? How can different work practices combine to form a fruitful synergy?
The challenge – organising & managing
A strategic alliance often carries a different weight in the business models of the partners involved: for some it is a central part of their strategy, for others one approach among many for implementing their own corporate strategy. The partners also bring different professional approaches, organisational procedures and communication styles shaped by their corporate cultures. All of these aspects need attention and explicit design if the alliance is to succeed.
Our consulting services
We will support you through five phases designed for lasting success, each with collaboration tools and methods adapted to your particular situation.
- Clarify the need. Collaboration needs, strategic objectives and action alternatives are evaluated and discussed together with the client. Feasibility often depends on the collaboration efforts involved.
- Find the partner. A critical study of the performance criteria and a systematic search for attractive partners with a precise “fit verification” keeps partner risks and search efforts low, and shows how compatible a partner is in terms of strategy, culture and structure. The collaboration agreement then defines the objectives and targets of both parties.
- Build the collaboration. Different corporate cultures, opinions and business processes need to find common ground: defining project and strategic directions, coordinating communication and decision-making processes, plus ground rules and standards for a shared collaboration culture. Differing views and misunderstandings are resolved immediately.
- Nurture the partnership. Partner exchanges, conflict management, periodic reviews and monitoring keep the alliance alive. Feedback and time for reflection support the mutual learning process.
- Plan the exit. The planned duration of the alliance and the rules for a future exit belong at the start. This minimizes risks and avoids unpleasant surprises at the end.
Examples of collaboration tools & methods
Collaboration space®
The collaboration space® provides a “container” that absorbs collaboration dynamics and connects collaboration partners with the collaboration task.
The CDI Model™ (Complexity Dynamics Intervention)
The tool captures the recurring, observable patterns of behaviour and interaction (dynamics) that predictably emerge from the strategic, organisational, technical and socio-cultural complexities of cross-organisational collaboration – along with the interventions for working on them.
Simulation “Leading at the boundaries”
In the simulation you experience how different cultures, perspectives, practices and conflicts affect decision-making processes in the collaboration between stakeholders – and how successful collaboration emerges through individual collaboration competencies and the collaborative steering of the alliance.