Like Iron Sharpening Iron: The Great Power of Learning Through Strategic Alliances

strategic alliance LearnTwo brains are better than one.  Of course, as long as the minds reach consensus.  They must share the same goals to build steadfast loyalty and trust. Compatible matures with time and effort. Members of the strategic alliance learn the burdens of one another.

A strong strategic alliance consists of companies sharing knowledge. Continue reading

The Importance of Strategic Alliances

Has your company has achieved a peak? You have been wondering what comes next. Create strategic alliances. A strategic alliance will help you achieve your next set of objectives; the ones that you cannot achieve on your own. With a well-structured alliances, 1 + 1 = 5.

To add a new product or market, there are three ways: Build it, Buy it, or Partner for it. Continue reading

What You Need to Know About Strategic Alliances

What is a strategic alliance? What are the risks? What are the common mistakes? What is the importance? How can strategic alliances end? What are the criteria? How should strategic alliances be managed? What are the different types?

Here is what you need to know about strategic alliance. Continue reading below to see a list of alliances and what considerations you must evaluate. Ask some of these questions before you start your alliances. Continue reading

The IoT Marketplace: Opportunities and Concerns

The Internet of Things, or IoT, is a term that describes the ever-growing world of connectivity between the internet and everyday objects. IoT generally refers to any object embedded with software, electronics, or sensors that have network connectivity. This marketplace is exploding. With this explosion arise opportunities and concerns.

Exploding IoT MarketplaceFor businesses, IoT offers a new horizon of technological support that facilitates opportunities to grow and creates challenges to overcome. Continue reading

Not All Channels of Distribution are Created Equal, Some Are More Creative

No man is an island applies to the relationship between manufacturers and partners in their channels of distribution. Whether manufacturers choose wholesalers, distributors, value added resellers (VARS), agents, dealers, or retailers, they also need to consider that not all channels of distribution are created equal for their particular business objectives. Not only does a company need to choose the right distribution channels, but they need to know how to use them to get the most out of their product. A creative approach always comes in handy. Continue reading

Deming Management and Business Alliances: Quality and Efficiency

As those familiar with W. Edwards Deming know, Business Alliances are the most important part of supply chain management. For those not familiar with Deming, he was an American economist who rebuilt post-war Japan and came back to the United States in the 1980s to address why Japanese manufacturing had beaten American manufacturing. Total quality control is his most well-known ideas, but one of his 14 points addresses the need to develop strategic partnerships with suppliers.

In Out of The Crisis, he points out that Japanese companies learned early that “the best  Continue reading

Use Alliance Management to “Get it Right”, because Alliances Have Limitless Potential

If your business is stagnant and needs a fresh and new division, product or service; or if you’re a new business and you need credibility or access to an established customer base, an alliance is a great way to get where you need to be.

Why Use Alliance Management?

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Should Your Next Business Partner Be Your Rival?

Although many businesses focus on outperforming competitors by taking advantage of their competitive advantages, many would actually benefit by forming a strategic alliance and turning their competitor into their business partner. While it may not be the most conventional approach, businesses have figured out that in some situations it’s better to focus on growing the entire market, rather than fight for the largest market share of a small market.

A recent Harvard Business Review article discusses why this strategy has emerged Continue reading

The “Eight I’s” in Strategic Alliances

There may be no “I” in team, but there is certainly an “I” in strategic alliance. In a recent Harvard Business Review article, author Rosabeth Moss Kanter explains her “Eight I’s That Make We” concept. The article ironically plays with the well-known phrase and suggests that in order to be successful, a company should actually concentrate on the following “I’s” when in a strategic alliance: Continue reading

Channels of Distribution Best Practices

The channels of distribution best practices utilize the warehouse facility as quickly as possible. Moving through the distribution center needs to happen with haste and warehouses are now being referred to as throughput centers. Every center, no matter what it is called, needs a best practices system in place.

1. Use an Advanced Shipping Notification (ASN)

This system finds Continue reading

Alliance Performance Coaching: CEO Partnership Support

We all have a basic understanding of these three words.
Performance is the presentation of work, generally applied to an expected level of success. Coaching is mentoring and/or apprenticeship by instruction, encouragement and example. Put this all together for the corporate world and you have the following definition: The mentoring of executive leadership in forming strategic partnerships between mutually motivated companies to effectively raise profits and lower losses for each partner.

At a time when “coaching” is the go-to word for any form of guidance and “expert” advice, from Little League to self-help gurus, it’s important to Continue reading

How Star Alliance helps Airlines get Ahead

The airline world is no stranger to corporate business alliances. These agreements mean that businesses cooperate substantially, and in addition, they make it less likely that one will push the other out of market share. In fact, in the airline world, these business alliances have become so popular that there are a few major known names.

One of the biggest is Star Alliance. Continue reading

Collaboration: It’s More Than Just Tools

Collaboration – What do you think of when you hear the word? If you’re like many, you think of internet sites and software programs that make it easier for team members to communicate – whether they’re sitting in cubicles right next to each other or at desks in different parts of the world. But that’s only part of the equation.

In his book The Culture of Collaboration, Evan Rosen points out that: ….. tools and technologies never create collaboration. Culture creates collaboration.  Continue reading

Choosing the Best Alliance Management Professional Makes all the Difference in the World

Sometimes it’s tough to go it alone, especially if you’re a small business owner. Because of today’s fast-paced and constantly changing business environment, it’s critical to move quickly to take advantage of opportunities.

Consequently, many business owners are seeking alliance management professionals to help them achieve their business objectives rather than building or buying something new. Continue reading

Retool the Sales Process to Gain Sales Growth

Working in the field of sales is great. Every day brings something new. Since this constant change directly affects sales people and their organizations, by extension it affects the sales process.

Some organizations avoid the entire issue by letting people do what they want. They see this as their way to avoid the need to correct or make changes – sometimes known as the don’t-fix-what-ain’t-broke mentality. This might be fine for your top sales reps, but not everyone can be a superstar. Maybe, if you it isn’t broke, you should break it. Continue reading

Why Creating Strategic Alliances Helps your Business Grow

Reaching out to like-minded individuals is one aspect of creating new business and it the same effect that happens when reaching out to like-minded businesses or competitors of the same or different genre. Specifically speaking building Strategic Alliances is networking with companies and or vendors that deal within the same area of business. For instance, a local business needs to increase sales. One way they can accomplish this is to find another local business that caters to a similar demographic and build a working relationship that benefits both companies by increasing the audience of both through joint advertising. Continue reading

Several Reasons Why You Need Business Alliances

As a business owner, you should always be looking for a way to increase your bottom line. There are different strategies claiming they can help you increase your business, but one that is often overlooked is forming business alliances. This term might be complete Greek to you, so here’s a quick breakdown of what it is. Continue reading

Successful Entrepreneurs Become Successful Business Partners

There’s an interesting story about the partnering of the ice cream giant, Baskin-Robbins.

According to a post in Entrepreneur, Burton Baskin and Irvine Robbins each began their ice cream stores as separate companies at the advice of Robbins’ father. Dad thought that the men would take too much time making compromises and “kill the product’s potential.”

So only after each had launched successful separate businesses did they subsequently become business partnersContinue reading