HP, Oracle, and the False Security of Contracts – Harvard Business Review

Hewlett Packard and Oracle are embroiled in a marriage spat that would put Hollywood celebs to shame. But because this is Silicon Valley, it is, well, technical.

HP is suing Oracle for breaching a contract. Oracle says there is no such contract. The companies asked for a pre-trial ruling on whether a contract exists. All the while, their online status page still says “married.” What gives?

Read full blog here:  HP, Oracle, and the False Security of Contracts – Ben Gomes-Casseres – Harvard Business Review.

Old Model of Competition is Dead – YouTube

The shape of business rivalry is changing. You can no longer go it alone. You’ll need to band together with other firms to win in the marketplace. Many managers and analysts don’t yet recognize this new reality. This is part of an 8-part series by Ben Gomes-Casseres on alliance strategy (see http://www.alliancestrategy.com).

via Old Model of Competition is Dead – YouTube.

Three Rules of Success – YouTube

All business combinations depend on three simple rules. In the rush to do a deal, managers often forget one or two of these. The consequences can be costly. Learn the rules and apply them. This is part of an 8-part series by Ben Gomes-Casseres on alliance strategy (see also http://www.alliancestrategy.com).

via Three Rules of Success – YouTube.

Relationship Spectrum – YouTube

What kind of business combination do you need? There is a spectrum of possibilities, from tight acquisitions to loose transactions. Understand the fundamentals behind these choices before you decide. This is part of an 8-part series by Ben Gomes-Casseres on alliance strategy (see also http://www.alliancestrategy.com).

via Relationship Spectrum – YouTube.

Case Study Insights – YouTube

Learn from the experience of others. But don’t just pick up tricks and tips from them. Case studies yield deeper lessons when you look at practice through the lens of modern business theory. This is part of an 8-part series by Ben Gomes-Casseres on alliance strategy (see also http://www.alliancestrategy.com).

via Case Study Insights – YouTube.

Compete in a Multi-polar World – YouTube

The world is more interconnected than ever before. There are also more centers of power. That is why you need to engage deeply with partners. This demands a change in culture for most firms. This is part of an 8-clip series by Ben Gomes-Casseres on alliance strategy (see also http://www.alliancestrategy.com).

via Compete in a Multi-polar World – YouTube.

Manage Your Network – YouTube

Alliances can save your business, but having too many alliances can kill it. Open innovation strategies sometimes lead to over-extension of your network. Be sure you will be in a position to capture value from your group. This is part of an 8-part series by Ben Gomes-Casseres on alliance strategy (see also http://www.alliancestrategy.com).

via Manage Your Network – YouTube.

Organizing Alliance Capability – YouTube

Your internal organization can make or break your external alliances. Smart companies build an alliance capability that balances the need for centralization with the benefits of decentralization. This is part of an 8-part series by Ben Gomes-Casseres on alliance strategy (see also http://www.alliancestrategy.com)

via Organizing Alliance Capability – YouTube.

How to Manage Multiple Partnerships – Harvard Business Review

If you think politicians have a tough time staying monogamous, take a look at big corporations. Most partnerships that start out with promises of exclusivity soon run into tensions, cheating, or divorce. It’s better to accept that, in business, one partner rarely fulfills all your strategic needs. You must learn to live with — not avoid — polygamy. The key is to manage your multiple partners and not let your relationships run wild.

Read full blog here: How to Manage Multiple Partnerships – Ben Gomes-Casseres – Harvard Business Review.

Managing High-Stakes Partners – Harvard Business Review

When I started to research business alliances over 25 years ago, an executive at General Motors told me: “If the business is worth doing, we’ll do it ourselves.” Today, few major companies still believe that they can go it alone — even when a business venture is worth a lot. External partnerships are not only more common, but as business bets go, they now involve much higher stakes. A company’s value can rise and fall dramatically by how well it manages partnerships. In this new world, you are worth as much as your external relationships.

Read full blog here: Managing High-Stakes Partners – Ben Gomes-Casseres – Harvard Business Review.

A Partnership Is Not a Purchase Order – Harvard Business Review

Scott McNealy, ex-CEO of Sun Microsystems, tweeted this message last month:

“Most over used phrase in business is ‘strategic partner.’ Favorite partnership for me is a purchase order. Defined charter, beginning, end.”

That is precisely why many external partnerships fail. True collaboration is much more than a purchase order. Setting up an external partnership as if it were a PO, at best, leaves value on the table. At worst, it leads to conflict and value destruction.

Read full blog here: A Partnership Is Not a Purchase Order – Ben Gomes-Casseres – Harvard Business Review.

The Non-Deal Between Japan Airlines and Delta – Harvard Business Review

Japan Airlines has chosen to stay hitched to American Airlines and not bolt to Delta. In a way, Delta may still come out a winner. Though the details are not yet out, Delta’s courting may well have forced American and its Oneworld allies to pay upwards of $1.4 billion just to hold on to their existing partner in Japan. [Author's note: Whether or not they pay in cash or kind will remain to be seen, because JAL has so far refused the investment.]

Read full blog here: The Non-Deal Between Japan Airlines and Delta – Ben Gomes-Casseres – Harvard Business Review.

Nummi: What Toyota Learned and GM Didn’t – Harvard Business Review

Last week, Toyota announced it will close the plant of New United Motor Manufacturing Incorporated (Nummi), its one-time joint venture with GM to make cars in California. (GM had pulled out of the JV in July.) It was third-page news in the financial section, but the passing of an era nonetheless. Nummi represented the first footstep of Toyota in US production, taken in the early 1980s, deep in the last recession. The plant never made money, but allowed Toyota to learn a lot — less so GM.

Read full blog here: Nummi: What Toyota Learned and GM Didn’t – Ben Gomes-Casseres – Now, New, Next – Harvard Business Review.

Outsourcing: Where Will You Draw the Line? – Harvard Business Review

The Defense Department is due to report to Congress that in Afghanistan, U.S. troops continue to be outnumbered by private contractors. The contractors are described as performing auxiliary duties so that military personnel can focus on core tasks. Sound familiar? How many companies do you know that have outsourced “non-core” activities to focus on its “core competence”?

Read full blog here: Outsourcing: Where Will You Draw the Line? – Ben Gomes-Casseres – Harvard Business Review.

Microsoft and Yahoo: Too Little, Too Late, Too Hyped – Harvard Business Review

It took over a year to for Microsoft and Yahoo to to forge their alliance in the internet search and advertising business (not counting the previous time the new partners were eyeing each other from across the room). Hence you’d expect a powerful combination of assets, structured to deliver value to users and shareholders. Guess again.

This alliance is fraught with problems.

Read full blog here: Microsoft and Yahoo: Too Little, Too Late, Too Hyped – Ben Gomes-Casseres – Now, New, Next – Harvard Business Review.

Alliance Strategy Newsletters, 2006-2007

Previous issues of our idea-letter are available here:

Alliance Constellations No. 2 (August 2007)

The Alliance Option No. 1 (September 2006)

via Alliance Strategy Newsletter Archives.

Vendor or Partner?

BGC%20VendorPartner%20OVM06.pdf

How Alliances Reshape Competition

BGC%20ReshapeCompetition%20Handbook06.pdf

Commentaries in the Press, 2000-2006

The following press articles (PDF) are available here:  Alliance Strategy Newsletter Commentaries in the Press.

Vendor or Partner? Outsourcing Venture Magazine (2006). Is your outsourcing venture a vendor relationship or a true partnership? It is critical to know the difference and manage accordingly. And the dividing line between the two may not be what you think.

Outsource, Don’t Abdicate. CIO Magazine (2005). The term “outsourcing” is an unfortunate one. With every outsourced task comes a new responsibility to govern that task properly and ethically. Denying this amounts to governance myopia.

Can AOL and Google Marriage Work? The Providence Journal Op-Ed (2005). Google’s billion-dollar engagement ring to AOL will not buy love, but it will buy bragging rights, blocking rights, and building rights. The first two will get all the buzz; but the last is what will make this marriage succeed or fail.

Alliance Sweet Talk: Tough Questions Worth Asking. Milestone Group Newsletter (2004).How should investors react when they catch high-tech CEOs singing love songs to each other? First, with cautious optimism. Second, they should ask some tough questions.

Relationship Lessons from the Ford-Firestone Breakup. Bridge Forum Op-Ed (2001). Firestone’s breakup with Ford is the most public corporate divorce in recent memory. But it is far from unique. We must learn its lessons.

American Airlines and British Airways. Providence Journal Op-Ed (2001). U.S. Justice Department blocks AA-BA deal. It does not believe that AA and BA could cooperate in an alliance and still compete against each other on transatlantic service and fares. In the language of the go-go 1990s, Justice does not believe in co-opetion.

Xerox and Fuji Xerox. Associated Press – excerpts (2001). Restructuring of Fuji Xerox provides opportunity to draw lessons from its past success.

Another Enron Casualty: Trust in Partnerships. Unpublished Op-Ed (2002). Enron “partnerships” give bad name to cooperative ventures. But Enron experience also shows investors must consider the alliances of a firm that fall outside of its legal boundaries.

Microsoft Verdict Reveals Dark Side of Strategic Alliances. Unpublished Op-Ed (2000). Judge Penfield Jackson’s verdict in the Microsoft anti-trust case last week should be required reading for any corporate strategist contemplating an alliance with another firm. It shines a spotlight on the dark side of alliances that is often hidden.

via Alliance Strategy Newsletter Commentaries in the Press.

Outsource, Don’t Abdicate

BGC%20OutsourceEthics%20CIO05.pdf