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Strength In Numbers
With Strategic Partnerships,
It's Business as Unusual
by
Ira Blumenthal,
CO-OPPORTUNITIES, Inc.
(Click
Here to download MS Word Version)
Call
it seeking symbiotic relationships, searching for synergies
or simply developing strategic alliances, truly there is strength
in numbers!
No company can
be called "expert" in all areas. Yet, it's important
to master production, packaging, distribution, logistics,
marketing, merchandising, positioning, advertising, promoting,
selling, managing and more. The complexity of business and
a newfound spirit of sharing lead to the development of "strategic
alliances."
Companies that
traditionally refused to build alliances now are embracing
new relationships and associations.
For example, for
more than 30 years, the only brand found on a McDonald's menu
was Coca-Cola. However, as McDonald's expanded its menu and
added pasta, hot dogs and other offerings, they started co-branding
with powerhouse companies that offered credibility.
In McDonald's "Mac's
Place," a food court in Detroit, McDonald's formed alliances
with The Contadina Pasta Station, The Healthy Choice Sandwich
Shoppe, Casa Ortega and the Oscar Mayer Hot Dog Construction
Company.
Motorola built
a strategic alliance with competitor Toshiba and each company
is selectively sharing resources, information and data. Disney
is in a strategic alliance with Microsoft. Hallmark Cards
has built an alliance with Nestle. The list goes on and on.
Strategic alliances
offer three basic benefits: value, efficiency and growth.
Start with Sharing
A strategic alliance is a multi-faceted relationship among
companies that seek sharing for business development purposes.
Both competitive and non-competitive companies can engage
in an alliance.
The key to alliance
success is honesty, integrity and the view that the alliance
is important. The partnership allows participants to share
resources, strengthen management skills and enhance each organization's
competitive positions.
In a strategic
alliance, all partners remain independent companies, no partner
can be dominant and all parties must make equal contributions
of resources like technology, products, etc.
Changes in consumers
require changes in the way we fundamentally do business and
go to market. This, after all, is business as unusual.
So what do you
look for in a strategic alliance? Here's a checklist:
- similar long-
and short-term objectives and ambitions
- similar corporate
culture and management style
- similar business
philosophies and positioning
- compatible skills,
assets, deficiencies and image
- business development
strategies that fit
- compatible financial
conditions
- synergies among
products, programs, markets and
- selling propositions
- and respect
for each other's image and reputation
Yes, this is business
as unusual. However, "the mind is like a parachute. It
only works when it's open."
It's about sharing.
It's about logical business development. It's about pursuing
a new, relevant strategy for business building.
© CO-OPPORTUNITIES,
Inc., 1998
Ira Blumenthal's Great Signature Speeches
678/797-9199
(Click
Here to download MS Word Version)
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