Forming a strategic alliance is a process that typically involves some of the important steps mentioned below:[11][26][27] Strategic alliances are agreements between two or more independent companies to work together in the manufacture, development, or sale of Accounting productsOur accounting guides and resources are self-learning guides to learn accounting and finance at your own pace. Browse hundreds of guides, resources, and services, or other business goals. The impact of forming a strategic alliance may be that each of the companies can achieve organic growth faster than if it had acted alone. Strategic alliances have gone from an option to a necessity in many markets and industries. Different markets and requirements are leading to an increasing use of strategic alliances. Integrating strategic alliance management into the company`s overall strategy is critical to driving products and services, entering new markets, and leveraging technology and research and development. Today, global companies have many alliances in domestic markets as well as global partnerships, sometimes even with competitors, which leads to challenges such as maintaining competition or protecting their own interests in managing the alliance. Today, managing an alliance focuses on harnessing differences to create value for the customer, managing internal challenges, managing Allianz`s day-to-day competition with competitors, and managing risk, which has become a company-wide concern. The revenue share of the 1,000 largest U.S.
public companies generated by strategic alliances increased from 3% to 6% in the 1990s to 40% in 2010, demonstrating the rapidly evolving need to partner through partnerships. The number of stock market alliances has increased significantly in recent years, while the number of acquisitions has decreased by 65% since 2000. For a statistical study, more than 3,000 alliances announced in the United States were examined between 1997 and 1997 and the results showed that only 25% of these alliances were based on equity. In the years 2000 to 2002, this percentage increased to 62% of share-based alliances among 2500 newly formed alliances. [3] [9] The Alliance is a cooperation or collaboration aimed at creating synergy in which each partner hopes that the benefits of the Alliance will be greater than those of individual efforts. The alliance often involves technology transfer (access to knowledge and expertise), economic specialisation[1], shared spending and shared risks. In the 1990s, geographical boundaries between markets collapsed and new markets were opened. The higher demands placed on companies lead to the need for constant innovation to gain competitive advantages. Strategic alliances have focused on skills and competency development. There are three types of strategic alliances: joint venture, equity strategic alliance and equity-free strategic alliance. Strategic alliances can take many sizes and forms: the use and operation of strategic alliances does not only bring opportunities and benefits. There are also risks and limitations that must be taken into account.
Failures are often attributed to unrealistic expectations, lack of commitment, cultural differences, strategic determination and insufficient trust. Some of the risks are listed below:[2][18] In a long-term strategic alliance, one party may become dependent on the other. A disruption of the alliance can endanger the health of the company. There are several ways to define a strategic alliance. Some definitions emphasize the fact that the partners do not create a new legal entity, that is, a new company. This does not apply to legal forms such as joint ventures in the field of strategic alliances. Others see joint ventures as possible manifestations of strategic alliances. Some definitions are given here: But true strategic alliances require effective management to realize their true potential, and given the time and energy required for traditional partnerships, this is more difficult than it seems. Choosing the right partner for the right project requires in-depth knowledge of partners` sales, marketing, and project data, as well as an understanding of their customers and the overall solutions they are looking for. Some analysts may say that strategic alliances are a new phenomenon in our time, in fact, cooperation between companies is as old as the existence of such companies. Examples include early credit institutions or professional associations such as the first Dutch guilds. There have always been strategic alliances, but in recent decades, the purpose and reasons for strategic alliances have developed very rapidly:[9][11] Partnership involves sharing free resources from each partner for the overall benefit of the alliance.
The agreement between Starbucks and Barnes & Noble is a classic example of a strategic alliance. Starbucks makes the coffee. Barnes & Noble keeps the books. Both companies do what they do best while sharing the cost of space for the benefit of both companies. In the 1980s, strategic alliances aimed to achieve economies of scale and scope. The companies involved have tried to consolidate their positions in their respective industries. Meanwhile, the number of strategic alliances has increased significantly. Some of these partnerships lead to great product successes such as Canon photocopiers sold under the Kodak brand, or the partnership between Toshiba and Motorola, whose combination of resources and technology leads to great success with microprocessors. According to the Ivey Business Journal, a strategic business alliance needs five key elements to succeed. To understand the reasons for strategic alliances, we look at three different product lifecycles: slow cycle, standard cycle, and fast cycle. The product life cycle is determined by the need to continuously innovate and develop new products in an industry.
For example, the pharmaceutical industry operates with a slow product lifecycle, while the software industry operates in a fast product lifecycle. .