Purpose and benefits

Over 60,000 strategic alliances have been formed in the past decade. About half were joint ventures. Only 40% meet or exceed their partners’ expectations.
To be successful with strategic alliances you must be clear about your objectives, get the alliance design right, and manage the alliance effectively after it is formed.
There is an important difference between shallow and deep alliances, and you should know which type you need and why.
Alliance success depends in large part on skilled managers who are good with people, have a high tolerance of ambiguity and conflict, and are patient yet persistent.
The clearest sign of alliance success is growing trust between the partners.