Strategic Alliances Essay

When a certain point is reached regarding a company’s success, a set of different opportunities arise and partnerships may unfold. However, with every possible strategy available, risks and benefits also come into play; without discarding any of them beforehand, every option is a strong candidate until a final decision is made. In this case study we will analyze the current business strategy pertaining

An organization must align its strategy and structure to allow itself to achieve performance improvements over time. The four different structures, simple, functional, multidivisional, and matrix, are all suited to allow companies with different strategies to succeed but the company must decide which of these is correct for itself. A small start-up company will overburden itself with excessive cost if it seeks to implement a functional structure because it clearly will not have the talent on hand to create whole departments of HR employees or accountants. On the other hand, a company that grows to become a large multi-national

Strategic alliance is an agreement between two or more organizations to cooperate in a detailed business activity, so that each get benefited from the strengths of one an other, and gains competitive advantage. The formation of strategic alliances has been seen as a comeback to globalization and increasing doubt and difficulty in the business environment. Strategic alliances occupy the sharing of knowledge and expertise between partners as well as the reduction of risk and costs in areas such as relationships with suppliers and the development of new products and technologies. strategic alliance is sometimes equated with a joint venture, but an alliance may involve competitors, and generally has a shorter life span. Strategic partnership is a closely related concept. This article analyzes definition of strategic alliance, its benefits, types, process of formation, and provides a few cases studies of strategic alliances. This paper tries to synthesize the scope and role of marketing functions in the determination of effectiveness of strategic alliances. Several propositions from a marketing perspective about the analysis of alliance process are formulated. On the basis of the propositions, a framework is developed for future research

Structure is the basis through which an organization seeks to create control the direction of an organization. This is completed through clear definitions of the allocation of work, differentiation, and the coordination of having those responsibilities working together towards the efforts of the organization, integration (Bolman & Deal, 1993, pp). Through these methods, the organization is able to devise a division of labor that collaborates to bring about the missions and goals of an organization. The structure that comes about from this can be varied in their rigidness and flexibility it allows, and to an extent this is a great contribution to its success.

Although partners learn from each other through alliances, promoting inter-firm learning happens when all participants acknowledge a number of critical factors that help or hinder collaboration (Dickson et al., 1997). Compatibility is a critical factor when companies decide to join with one another, and management on both sides examine if the partnership will deliver desired results (Dickson et al., 1997). Although partnering with businesses that offer

According to Reframing Organizations the benefits of a formal structure helps a company to not waste time and money especially on training products in an effort to solve problems that deal with social architecture instead of people. Structure, basically a blueprint for internal management/ employees and external constituencies like clients and competitors to follow. It has been said that structural form enhances and constrains what an organization can accomplish.

All businesses have organisational structures, even if they are small or big, they have some type of structure so they can operate productively.

Transforming into a more mechanistic organization structure would change Evo’s organization back to a centralization structure. The centralization structure does not fit well for companies that are in a fast-changing environment (Phillips &Gully, 2014). Using a mechanistic structure would also go against the Mr. Phillips non-bureaucratic philosophy. By continuing to progress as an organic organization, Evo will be able to keep communication open, allow for quicker responses to industry changes and speedier making of decisions and ensure maintenance of employee satisfaction (Phillips &Gully, 2014).

Every potential partner has its strengths or core competencies which should not be compromised, hence a successful alliance is one which outcome are a

Aegis Analytical was a start-up, manufacturing process software provider, developing solutions for the pharmaceutical industry. The company was founded on managerial know-how, established by two co-founders with in-depth knowledge of the manufacturing domain and software know-how, developed their flagship product called Discoverant. Discoverant was a revolutionary product that offered a solution to highly complex problems in the manufacturing process of pharmaceutical companies. The software had the following features: it collected data during the production process, tracked failures and then analyzed the data to give sophisticated bases for solutions to managers. Aegis aspired to be the recognized leader in the process

The strategic management process is sometimes improperly perceived as a unidirectional flow of objectives, strategies and decision parameters from management to the employees. In fact, the process should be highly interactive since it is designed to stimulate input from creative, skilled and knowledgeable people working at every level of the business.

Mechanistic structures are designed to induce people to behave in predictable, accountable ways. Decision-making authority is centralized, subordinates are closely supervised, and information flows mainly in a vertical direction down a clearly defined hierarchy. In a mechanistic structure the tasks associated with a role are also clearly defined. There is usually a one-to-one correspondence between a person and a task (figure 1 depicts this). Each person is individually specialized and knows exactly what he or she is responsible for, and behavior inappropriate to the role is discouraged or prohibited.

In a centralized organizational structure one individual is responsible for making all the decisions and maintains control of the company by giving direction. While Decentralized organizational structures often rely on several persons with the authority to make final decision for the company’s well being. Some benefits associated with a centralized organization are as follows: Reduction in cost in the work environment, having a focused vision on one common goal and Reduction in conflict. A Few drawbacks of a centralized organization include, No secrecy because all ideas and decisions are conveyed to all, No special attention and Delay in work. Advantages associated with Decentralization are; Huge relief is provided off the top managers, Greater use is made of employees skills and Decision making is left up to educational and well informed people.

Partners may provide the strategic alliance with resources such as products, distribution channels, manufacturing capability, project funding, capital equipment, knowledge, expertise, or intellectual property. The alliance is cooperation or collaboration which aims for a synergy where each partner hopes that the benefits from the alliance will be greater than those from individual efforts. The alliance often involves technology transfer (access to knowledge and expertise), economic specialization, shared expenses and shared risk.

Jim Heal of Hewlett-Packard, Inc (HP) and Mike Thomas of Cisco Systems, Inc (Cisco) were both leaders of strategic alliance management teams that were formed in early 1997. Both teams were created to help facilitate the strategic alliance that was formed between HP and Cisco. As with all alliances, a wide variety of issues and challenges emerged that had be to be resolved and it was the purpose of the alliance teams to solve such issues. Beginning in February 2002, a formal contract to expand the HP and Cisco alliance was being negotiated and it was during this time that several important challenges emerged that would require the full attention of Mr. Heal and Mr. Thomas.