Marife P.

Butron

BSA III-I

Strategic Alliance is a relationship between two or more parties to pursue a set of agreed upon goals or to meet a critical business need while remaining independent organizations.It is less involved and less permanent than a joint venture, in which two companies typically pool resources to create a separate business entity. In a strategic alliance, each company maintains its autonomy while gaining a new opportunity. A strategic alliance could help a company develop a more effective process, expand into a new market or develop an advantage over a competitor, among other possibilities. Examples: 1. Pfizer and Biocon conduct strategic alliance to market the latters insulin biosimilar products in the world market 2. Transcend Information Inc, a major player in the global accessories has an agreement with Bharti teletech to fistribute the entire portfolio of Transcend products in India. 3. In the Philippines, local Air Asia and ZestAir forged a strategic alliance to capitalize in the tourism in the country and so as to expand their market share. 4. Nestle and General Mills (US) agreement whereby the product Honeynet Cheerios was made in General Mills US plants, shipped in bulk to Europe for packaging at a Nestle plant and then marketed in France, Spain and Portugal 5. Chrysler Fiat partnership to build compact and subcompact jeeps. 6. Apple has partnered with Sony, Motorola, Phillips, and AT&T in the past. Apple has also partnered more recently with Clearwell in order to jointly develop Clearwell's EDiscovery platform for the Apple iPad. E-Discovery is used by enterprises and legal entities to obtain documents and information in a "legally defensible" manner, according to a 2010 press release. 7. Starbucks partnered with Barnes and Nobles bookstores in 1993 to provide in-house coffee shops, benefiting both retailers. In 1996, Starbucks partnered with Pepsico to bottle, distribute and sell the popular coffee-based drink, Frappacino.

In conclusion, strategic alliances can be a powerful tool for achieving a companys strategic goals. Through cooperation and sharing of resources, one plus one may equal three. In order to improve the chances of success, companies must follow a careful, organized process from start to finish; from strategic conception to alliance termination. It is important to take the time to properly set the strategy for the alliance, to create the optimum structure for the alliance to flourish, to set clear rules of governance, and to monitor the results on a timely basis.