{"id":1248,"date":"2024-04-03T08:05:57","date_gmt":"2024-04-03T06:05:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/family-business\/?p=1248"},"modified":"2024-06-12T11:05:24","modified_gmt":"2024-06-12T09:05:24","slug":"design-management-and-dynamics-of-successful-strategic-alliances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/family-business\/2024\/design-management-and-dynamics-of-successful-strategic-alliances\/","title":{"rendered":"Design, management and dynamics of successful strategic alliances"},"content":{"rendered":"

Guest contributor: \u00c1frica Ari\u00f1o<\/a><\/span><\/h2>\n
\n

Professor of Strategic Management \u00b7 Holder of the Joaquim Molins Figueras Chair of Strategic Alliances \u00b7 <\/strong>IESE
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

As explored in the first article<\/a> in this series on the conclusions drawn at the Family Business Reflection Forum<\/strong>, strategic alliances enable two or more companies to share resources<\/strong> and capabilities<\/strong> to either undertake new activities or carry out existing ones with greater efficiency.<\/p>\n

Despite their advantages, many family-owned firms are disinclined to engage in these partnerships for fear of ceding too much control<\/strong>, compromising their core values<\/strong> or being subject to inter-partner dependencies<\/strong>, which lead to their own unique challenges.<\/p>\n

In this post, IESE researcher Mar\u00eda del Mar Revilla<\/a> and I share some insights.<\/p>\n

The challenges of strategic alliances and their root causes<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

When considering a strategic alliance, companies need to make several key decisions<\/strong>, which can be grouped into three main areas\u2013why<\/em>, with whom<\/em> and how<\/em>\u2013 and which define the scope of the potential partnership:<\/p>\n

> <\/strong>Strategic scope<\/strong>: the objectives of each partner in creating the alliance
\nThese don\u2019t necessarily have to coincide, but should at least be compatible<\/strong>. Conflicts emerge when organizational strategies are misaligned.<\/p>\n

> <\/strong>Economic scope:<\/strong> the activities carried out within the alliance and those carried out independently by each partner.<\/p>\n

Alliances can sometimes generate an asymmetric flow <\/strong>if one partner procures corollary benefits outside of its scope. This could pose a challenge given the laws of human nature since, despite an alliance\u2019s clear advantages, people often end up comparing their benefits to their partner\u2019s.<\/p>\n

> <\/strong>Operational scope<\/strong>: While the degree of integration of partner activities depends on the type of alliance, the coordination of each partner\u2019s processes and capabilities<\/strong> is paramount.<\/p>\n

The root cause of these challenges is that, under a strategic alliance, partners operate as independent entities while sharing resources, which can generate both high levels of value creation and<\/em> friction<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In this regard, the success of strategic alliances relies on managing processes and inter-partner dynamics<\/strong>, and remembering that alliances aren\u2019t static<\/strong>\u2013they develop over time based on the evolving overall context and partners\u2019 strategic objectives and organizational structures.<\/p>\n

Three success stories<\/span> <\/strong><\/h2>\n

During the Forum, I had the pleasure of moderating a round table with representatives of three leading family businesses\u2013Alib\u00e9rico, Barcel\u00f3 and Ficosa<\/strong>\u2013who shared their firsthand experiences of the power of strategic alliances as growth engines and the importance of trust, transparency and flexibility.<\/p>\n

First, Alib\u00e9rico<\/strong><\/a> is a prominent aluminum manufacturer that pointed that trust and keeping one\u2019s word<\/strong> are key to a successful alliance, which in their case entails technological exchanges with no need for formal written contracts.<\/p>\n

In this regard, they view mutual trust and transparency as tightly interwoven threads<\/strong> in effective strategic partnerships, while at the same time, recognizing the challenges inherent in international partnerships <\/strong>due to cultural and leadership differences.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Barcel\u00f3<\/strong><\/a> is a well\u00ad-known family-owned business in the tourism sector that formed strategic alliances to drive its international expansion<\/strong>. During the Forum, they stressed the need to protect the balance sheet and including escape clauses <\/strong>when signing alliances.<\/p>\n

They also believe potential partners should also closely consider their ownership strategy<\/strong> by asking questions such as Should we open it up to other partners?<\/em> Should we go public?<\/em> These questions, essential when defining a growth strategy, should be posed in a forbearing and timely manner to avoid missing out on business opportunities<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Finally, Ficosa<\/strong><\/a>, a premier player in the automotive sector, underscored the strategic value of partnering with technology giants to serve as innovation leaders in their industry.<\/p>\n

With a focus on agility and operational efficiency<\/strong>, they shared how partnerships can promote transformation and growth in highly competitive sectors. In the case of Ficosa, this transformation has been profound, with shifts from mechanical to mechatronic processes to an to eminently electronic operation in a relatively short time span.<\/p>\n

While creative, innovative and precarious in equal measures<\/strong>, strategic alliances have numerous benefits that often outweigh their risks, giving companies faster access to new markets and technological innovations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Guest contributor: \u00c1frica Ari\u00f1o Professor of Strategic Management \u00b7 Holder of the Joaquim Molins Figueras Chair of Strategic Alliances \u00b7 IESE As explored in the first article in this series on the conclusions drawn at the Family Business Reflection Forum, strategic alliances enable two or more companies to share resources and capabilities to either undertake […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2313,"featured_media":169,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[352,981],"tags":[7952,247],"class_list":["post-1248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-leadership","tag-alliances","tag-strategy","megacategoria-mc-family-business"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/family-business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/family-business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/family-business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/family-business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2313"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/family-business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1248"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/family-business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1248\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1256,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/family-business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1248\/revisions\/1256"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/family-business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/family-business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/family-business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/family-business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}