1.5 - About University

3.8P ARTNERING FOR S UCCESS: JOINT V ENTURESAND S TRATEGIC A LLIANCESContributed by Mel Blitzer and inspired by Michael Schrage.As we enter the second millennium, organizations large and small, private and public, localand transnational are joining forces—forming alliances—from the most informal of agreementsthrough to joint ventures and mergers. Known as strategic alliances, collaborative relationships,or cooperative ventures, these arrangements help organizations to:✔✔✔Face the challenges of a complex, constantly shifting business environment.Keep pace with technological innovation.Meet the pressures of globalization.At the development and implementation stage, strategic alliances can become quite complex,especially when the organizations involved have little history of working with eachother. This is when having an alliancing model like the one presented here can be invaluablein helping to sort out and track the alliance development process.T HE STRATEGIC ALLIANCE DEVELOPMENT CYCLEConceptual and technical collaboration form the basis of successful alliances.Conceptual collaboration:➠ The overarching intent of the proposed alliance is developed. People devise concepts,ideas, themes, and strategies, and outline the nature and possible solutions to organizationalproblems. A useful analogy is a group of people planning to build a housetogether. Conceptual collaboration would give everyone a clear idea and picture ofhow the house will look. This may go as far as detailed blueprints of the house.Technical collaboration:➠ The alliance is built based on the agreed project concept or blueprint. This involvesbringing people with complementary skills together to accomplish a specific task—inour analogy, building a house.When combined, conceptual and technical collaboration can be used to construct a fourstagemodel of alliancing.92 SECTION 3 TOOLS FOR STRATEGIC THINKING