A joint venture is a business agreement in which parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new

assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets. There are other types of companies such as JV limited by guarantee, joint ventures limited by guarantee with partners holding shares. On the other hand, when two or more persons come together to form a temporary partnership for the purpose of carrying out a particular project, such partnership can also be called a joint venture where the parties are "co-venturers" A joint venture takes place when two parties come together to take on one project. In a joint venture, both parties are equally invested in the project in terms of money, time, and effort to build on the original concept. While joint ventures are generally small projects, major corporations also use this method in order to diversify. A joint venture can ensure the success of smaller projects for those that are just starting in the business world or for established corporations. Since the cost of starting new projects is generally high, a joint venture allows both parties to share the burden of the project, as well as the resulting profits.

Examples of joint ventures?

Sony-Ericsson is a joint venture by the Japanese consumer electronics company Sony Corporation and the Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson to make mobile phones. The stated reason for this venture is to combine Sony's consumer electronics expertise with Ericsson's technological leadership in the communications sector. Both companies have stopped making their own mobile phones.

Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB is a joint venture established on October 1, 2001 by the Japanese consumer electronics company Sony Corporation and the Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson to manufacture mobile phones. The stated reason for this venture is to combine Sony's consumer electronics expertise with Ericsson's technological knowledge in the communications sector. Both companies have stopped making their own mobile phones. The company's global management is based in Hammersmith, London, and it has research and development teams in Lund, Tokyo, Mexico City, Beijing, and Redwood Shores in the US. By 2009, it was the fourth-largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world after Nokia, Samsung and LG. The sales of products largely increased due to the launch of the adaptation of Sony's popular Walkman and Cybershot series. In 2010, its market share had fallen to sixth place behind Research In Motion and Apple

History
[edit] Origins
In the United States, Ericsson partnered with General Electric in the early nineties, primarily to establish a US presence and brand recognition. Ericsson had decided to obtain chips for its phones from a single sourcea Philips facility in New Mexico. In March 2000, a fire at the Philips factory contaminated the sterile facility. Philips assured Ericsson and Nokia (their other major customer) that production would be delayed for no more than a week. When it became clear that production would actually be compromised for months, Ericsson was faced with a serious shortage.[7] Nokia had already begun to obtain parts from alternative sources, but Ericsson's position was much worse as production of current models and the launch of new ones was held up.[8] Ericsson, which had been in the mobile phone market for decades, and was the world's third largest cellular telephone handset maker, was struggling with huge losses. This was mainly due to this fire and its inability to produce cheaper phones like Nokia. To curtail the losses, it considered outsourcing production to Asian companies that could produce the handsets for lower costs.[citation needed] Speculation began about a possible sale by Ericsson of its mobile phone division, but the company's president said it had no plans to do so. "Mobile phones are really a core business for Ericsson. We wouldn't be as successful (in networks) if we didn't have phones", he said.[citation
needed]

Sony was a marginal player in the worldwide mobile phone market with a share of less than 1 percent in 2000. By August 2001, the two companies had finalised the terms of the merger announced in April. The company was to have an initial workforce of 3,500 employees

Marketing campaigns
Social media
During 2010, in 11 months, Sony Ericsson's Facebook fan count rose from 300,000 to 3.9 million to become the 40th-largest brand on the social networking site. The company aims to capitalise on this fanbase and increase engagement by profiling these fans and matching them to dedicated content. It will also analyse the top commenters on the Facebook page and ensure engagement through special content and offering these fans the chance to visit Sony Ericsson offices.

Environmental record
Sony Ericsson ranks 6th out of 15 leading electronics makers in Greenpeaces Guide to Greener Electronics that assesses companies' policies on climate and energy, sustainability and how green their products are. The company scores 4.2/10 and is one of the top scorers in the Products category, gaining maximum points for the energy efficiency of its phones and doing well for its avoidance of hazardous substances in its products. [40] Sony Ericsson is ahead of many of its competitors in eliminating chemical substances in its products and is currently finalising the phase out of antimony, beryllium, phthalates and the very small remaining use of BFR.[41] However, Greenpeace criticises Sony Ericsson for not having a plan to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency or more use of renewable energy. The guide also states that the company still needs to report the amount of recycled plastic sourced as a percentage of all plastics used. [40] In June 2009, Sony Ericsson launched its first GreenHeart series device, the C901, which indirectly emits a 15% less of CO2 during its fabrication and usage, compared to other SE phones. It is also packed in a small box without paper manual, includes an eco-charger, and its cover is made of recycled plastic

Virgin Mobile India Limited is a cellular telephone service provider company which is a joint venture between Tata Tele service and Richard Branson's Service Group. Currently, the company uses Tata's CDMA network to offer its services under the brand name Virgin Mobile, and it has also started GSM services in some states

Virgin Mobile India Limited is a cellular telephone service provider company which is a joint venture between Tata Teleservices and Richard Branson's Virgin Group. Currently, the company uses Tata's CDMA network to offer its services under the brand name Virgin Mobile, and it has also started GSM services in some states. Virgin Mobile branded services are being offered to the Indian consumers by Tata Teleservices through a brand franchise with Virgin Mobile. Virgin Mobile India provides Tata Teleservices with experience and expertise in designing, marketing and servicing of Virgin Mobile branded products for the youth segment. Virgin Mobile offers prepaid and postpaid on both GSM as well as CDMA. Virgin Mobile also offers wireless services under the brand name Datamax.[1] Virgin Mobile is also India's first national youth-focused mobile service, with presence across 45,000 outlets reaching over 3,20,000 cities, towns and villages across India. It was also ranked as the No. 1 for customer satisfaction within the first year of its launch with an overall score of over 95%. It have also been adjudged the 'Buzziest Brands of 2009' i.e. the most searched for brands by surfers, in a survey carried out by a leading online portal in India.[2]

Network Coverage
Virgin mobile service is available in the following circles:
y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y

Delhi NCR Chhattisgarh Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Mumbai Andhra Pradesh Bihar Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh Karnataka Kerala Kolkata Orissa Punjab

y y y y y

Rajasthan Tamil Nadu Uttar Pradesh (East) Uttar Pradesh (West) West Bengal

Virgin Mobile does not offer services in Assam, Goa and the North East.

Recent Campaigns
Virgin Mobile refreshed its campaign by starting a channel on YouTube called as indianpangaleague.[3] Since the inception of the campaign, YouTube has logged over 610,975 views, around 20,893 channel views and more than 300 subscribers.[4] It also came up with a 'Yoyo tariff' which allowed friends to keep calls between them free by getting 10p for incoming and paying 10p for outgoing. The campaign was created by Bates 141. It initially gained a huge response as Virgin was the only mobile service provider who paid for incoming calls. In the late 2009 Virgin Mobile India also started relying on manned kiosks as the alternate channels for sales and branding. It was their endeavor to serve their customer better and attract more customers to know Virgin Mobiles latest offers and deals. Hence, Virgin Mobile India decided to pilot unmanned kiosks and evaluate the success of the pilot by saving costs and attract subscribers to interact with Virgin Mobile applications, buy recharge coupons, download freebies and paid value added services (VAS) content like wallpaper and ringtones.

Competitors
Virgin Mobile competes with several other mobile operators throughout India. They are Aircel, Airtel, Cheers Mobile, BSNL, Idea, Loop Mobile, MTNL, MTS, Ping Mobile, Reliance Communications, S Tel, Uninor, Videocon and Vodafone. Virgin Mobile's parent company also operates 2 other networks - Tata Indicom (CDMA) and Tata Docomo.