Strategic alliances are assuming an increasingly prominent role in the strategy of leading firms, large and small. Such cooperative relationships can help firms gain new competencies, conserve resources and share risks, move more quickly into new markets, and create attractive options for future investments.1 Yet, despite their promise, many alliances fail to meet expectations because little attention is given to nurturing the close working relationships and interpersonal connections that unite the partnering organizations. While these personal relationships between “boundary spanning” members, who work closely together, serve to shape and modify the evolving partnership, economic theories of exchange virtually ignore the role of people and their importance in the management of interorganizational relations.2 Surprisingly, “human or people factors appear to have remained unconsidered or, at worst, dismissed” in the alliance research tradition.3
Communication and the proactive exchange of information can strengthen cooperative relationships in several ways. First, effective collaboration requires connections at three levels across partnering organizations, represented by continuing contact among (1) top management to develop broad goals and monitor progress, (2) middle managers to develop plans for joint activities, and (3) operational personnel, who carry out the day-to-day work of the alliance.4
Second, “trust plays an important (often dominant) role in successful alliances,”To read the complete article, login or sign-up using the form below.
Get a premium subscription today to read this and all MIT Sloan Managmeent Review articles.
More Info.
Buy this article. Purchase one or more copies of this article as a PDF.
Subscribe today to read the
most recent articles and the current issue of MIT Sloan Management Review.
Upgrade to premium
Current Subscribers: Do you subscribe to MIT Sloan Management Review? Register for online access.
