

The formation of strategic business alliances locally can enable the Hunter region’s professional service firms and SME’s to win higher value business than as individual firms. Alliances can overcome the ‘David and Goliath’ problem of SME’s as being perceived as ‘small businesses’ by large corporations and government departments who, in turn, appear to SME’s to be clad in impenetrable armour.
Potential strategic alliance arrangements span from collaborative product and service design, development, alliance brand marketing and bid alliances through to joint ventures.
Here are a few reasons to consider strategic alliances for your business:
Alliances had their genesis in the partnership sourcing approaches developed within the Japanese company families – the keiretsu – in the 1960’s and 1970’s, which tried and tested many of the management tools now used by all the major industries of the world. In fact, many commentators place their partnership approaches as the single greatest factor which gave the Japanese automotive industry their unprecedented success in the 1980’s and early 1990’s.
The Japanese success was to eradicate non-value adding activities which result in the destruction of value in the adversarial interface between firms.
My experience in business alliances and joint ventures suggests that to be successful the alliance must be driven by business owners and leaders from each organisation who share common business goals. Successful business alliances begin with a clear business need for all parties. A clear business need answers the fundamental question “why am I doing this?” For example:
The other question to ask is “am I ready, and are they?” This is answered by examining essential prerequisites for business alliances to succeed.
If these prerequisites are met you can say with conviction “yes I understand why I am doing this, and yes, I know what I am taking on.”
The substantial benefits of alliances can be found in their ability to deliver superior value for all participants.
Bede Boyle is Chairman of Manufacturship Group, founded by Jason Furness to assist CEOs of Manufacturing and Business Enterprises Rapidly lift Profits by a powerful blend of pragmatic Advice and executive Mentoring.
Bede contributes unique insights to the leadership of successful family business enterprises. He has 20+ years' experience as independent director of family owned firms winning business in diverse sectors; Banking and Insurance; Building and Construction; Coal Mining, Rail and Port Operations; Local, State and Federal Governments; Defence and Defence Industry.
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