Unlocking Growth through Strategic Alliances

Sections of this topic

    One of the most powerful means to strengthen an organization’s impact and sustainability
    is by engaging in a strategic alliance or combining with other organizations.
    There are a variety of ways this can be structured. Organizations face pressure
    from funders and investors to efficiently collaborate with other organizations.
    Mergers and acquisitions are a very prominent strategy, especially among large
    businesses. This topic briefly explains collaborations, mergers and acquisitions, and joint ventures.

    In their book, Forming Alliances: Working Together to Achieve Mutual Goals,
    Hoskins and Angelica define an alliance as a relationship between partners that
    is strategically formed to accomplish goals that benefit the community while
    strengthening the partners. The authors depict a continuum of alliances that
    continues from a very loose relationship to a complete merger.

    1. Cooperation – Shorter-term informal relationships that exist without
      any clearly defined mission, structure, or planning effort.
    2. Coordination – Longer-term, more formal relationships that rely on
      understanding of missions and focus on a specific effort or programs
    3. Collaboration – Most durable and pervasive relationships where participants
      bring separate organizations into a new structure with full commitment and
      common mission. (from Winer and Ray’s Collaboration Handbook: Creating,
      Sustaining, and Enjoying the Journey)
    4. Merger – A partnership in which two or more corporations decide to
      become one (from LaPiana’s The Nonprofit Mergers Workbook)

    NOTE: LaPiana adds more detail to options for partnering and organizes them
    into three categories: collaborations, strategic alliances (administrative consolidation
    and joint programming, and corporate integration (management service organization,
    joint ventures, parent-subsidiaries, and mergers).

    Bibliography

    • Collaboration Handbook: Creating, Sustaining, and Enjoying the Journey
      by Michael Winer and Karen Ray. St. Paul, MN: Fieldstone Alliance, 1994.
    • Forming Alliances: Working Together to Achieve Mutual Goals
      by Linda Hoskins and Emil Angelica. St. Paul, MN: Fieldstone Alliance, 2005.
    • The Nonprofit Mergers Workbook
      by David LaPiana. St. Paul, MN: Fieldstone Alliance, 2000.

    Sections of This Topic Include

    Collaborations
    Mergers and Acquisitions
    Boards Mergers and Acquisitions
    Joint Ventures
    Additional Information for Nonprofits

    Additional Perspectives on Organizational Alliances

    Also, consider
    Related Library Topics and Recommended Books

    Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to Organizational Alliances

    In addition to the articles on this current page, see the following blogs
    that have posts related to Organizational Alliances. Scan down the blog’s page
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    Library’s
    Consulting and Organizational Development Blog

    Library’s
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    Collaboration

    Resources
    Collaboration,
    Knowledge Representation and Automatability

    For Successful Collaboration, Think Outside the
    Box

    From Conflict to Collaboration
    5
    Reasons It Might Be Time to Find a New Business Partner

    Partnerships:
    Frameworks for Working Together

    Mergers and Acquisitions

    Basics of Mergers and Acquisitions
    Mergers
    and Acquisitions — Wikipedias

    Merges
    and Acquisitions Primer

    Merger and Acquisition
    5 Tips for Executing a Successful Acquisition
    Litigation in Mergers and Acquisitions
    The tools – Mergers and Acquisitions
    Business Acquisitions and Financing
    Does Takeover Activity Cause Managerial Discipline?
    Evidence from International M&A Laws

    Course 7: Mergers & Acquisitions (Part 1)
    Course 7: Mergers & Acquisitions (Part 2)

    Mergers and Acquisitions: Understanding the Essentials
    of Strategy and Execution in the M&A Ecosystem: Part 1 of
    4

    Mergers and Acquisitions: Understanding the Essentials
    of Strategy and Execution in the M&A Ecosystem: Part 2 of
    4

    Mergers and Acquisitions: Understanding the Essentials
    of Strategy and Execution in the M&A Ecosystem: Part 3 of
    4

    Mergers and Acquisitions: Understanding the Essentials
    of Strategy and Execution in the M&A Ecosystem: Part 4 of
    4

    Boards Mergers and Acquisitions

    Strategic M&A, Spin-Offs, Hostile Transactions and Private Equity
    Litigation in Mergers and Acquisitions
    Corporate Governance Structure and Mergers
    M&A Litigation: A Potential Partial Solution to a Big Problem
    Nonprofit Organization Mergers: What to Do

    Joint Ventures

    Joint Venture: An Overview
    Joint
    Ventures (Wikipedia)

    Why Joint Ventures?
    How to Evaluate a Joint Venture

    Nonprofit Information

    Nonprofit Mergers and Acquisitions: More Than
    a Tool for Tough Times

    Partners and Competitors in the Nonprofit Sector
    Nonprofit Collaborations: 2.0
    Model Guidelines for Nonprofits: Evaluating Proposed Relationships with Other Organizations

    Additional Perspectives on Organizational Alliances

    15 Steps for Successful Strategic Alliances (and
    Marriages)

    The tools – Strategic Alliances


    For the Category of Organizational Alliances:

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