Digital Deals: Strategies for Selecting and Structuring Partnerships (Hardcover)

by George T. Geis (Author) "For thousands of years Lake Ontario teemed with fish..." (more)
Key Phrases: market modeling system, digital triangle, deal rationales, Time Warner, Shattuck Hammond, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
In the New Economy, an organization's success depends on its ability to identify and execute effective partnerships, mergers, alliances and/or investments with other companies in order to provide its services and products. To successfully do so means the opportunity to have the competitive advantage in the respective market. Business competition has been profoundly changed by the Internet. The business press covers this type of activity on a daily basis. This book presents a model for enhancing your corporate development strategy that can be applied across all industries. A new method is needed for partnership planning. This book enables exectives to implement coherent corporate development plans. As the digital revolution spreads and accelerates, market value is migrating to organizations with superior execution of a plan for corporate development involving partnerships and investments, which applies to companies of all sizes. Books like "Digital Capital" focus one or two chapters on the importance of alliances. The reader will learn a systematic methodology for competitive analysis and partnership planning. The book goes into specific corporate development strategies illustrated through corporate examples from Microsoft, Intel, Scient, Sapient etc. In the end, the reader should have a blueprint for developing the informational resources needed to support stategic marketspace thinking. The book specifically covers the major structural forms for deals, the digital database and its significance to corporate strategy, details on effective minority equity investments, determining complementary value activities, and why a traditional deal approach is no longer adequate. It discusses the five classic structures: M&A, joint venture, minority equity investment, commerce alliance and spin-off - providing valuable insights into what's different and what's the same about the deal structure in the digital economy. It covers how to select target partners by reducing a player universe to a short list. Learn from big leaders, such as Microsoft, Intel, Cisco and AOL through case studies outlining the deal structure used and what worked/what didn't. The authors are in a position to bring this crucial information to the reader in a proven and effective manner through their connections with McKinsey and their clients.

From the Inside Flap
Digital Deals explains how companies like AOL, Cisco, Intel, and Microsoft have planned and executed effective partnerships and strategic investments, and how these practices can enhance any company's effectiveness and value by identifying and executing intelligent partnerships, mergers, alliances, and investments. Providing step-by-step analyses and insights into partnership approaches that have succeeded across industries, it features:

* Guidelines for evaluating your organization's strengths and weaknesses and matching them to appropriate partners
* An 8-step market modeling framework for crafting an effective digital deal strategy
* Discussion of the 5 classic deal structures: M&A, joint ventures, minority equity investments, commerce alliances, and spin-offs

With specific guidelines for everything from targeting prospective partners to pursuing and completing alliances, Digital Deals provides a proven blueprint for planning and executing sound corporate partnering strategiesand developing the database and web-based information resources needed to make them work.

"The companies who emerge as industry leaders will be those who understand how to partner and those who understand how to acquire."
John Chambers
President and CEO, Cisco Systems, Inc.

Digital Deals explains and analyzes the "growth through partnering" success of companies like Cisco, AOL, Microsoft and others. Combining case studies from the files of these digital leaders with techniques for structure and implementation, Digital Deals reveals the secrets organizations need to know before investing or partnering with other businessesand identifies the steps required to make those partnerships successful.

In this fast-moving age of global integration, businesses need more information and resources to gain and maintain their competitive advantage. Digital Deals will take you through the 21st century deal process from pre-deal needs analysis to assure post-deal satisfaction, in sections including:

* Crafting a Systematic Deal Strategy explores the new significance of partnerships and presents a systematic framework for selecting appropriate digital deals.
* Structuring Digital Deals examines how executives in companies from Intel to AT&T established and executed the five primary types of deal structures.
* Putting It All Together explores the correlation between deal rationale and deal structure, and offers guidance for building a system that supports digital deal analysis and action.

As the digital revolution spreads and accelerates, market value is migrating to organizations that understand the value ofand know the steps to executecost-effective partnership and investment strategies. Digital Deals outlines and explains a systematic methodology for competitive analysis and partnership planning, and provides a proven model for developing and improving any organization's new economy corporate development strategy.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 303 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies (May 23, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071374973
• ISBN-13: 978-0071374972
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,245,590 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Provocatively systematic, May 30, 2001

By	DS Loeb (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

Provocative perspective on partnership strategy, essentially arguing for a systematic approach to what typically is an unsystematic process. That said, the authors do seem to appreciate the role of executive creativity in business development. I gained a lot from the case studies on Cisco, Intel, Microsoft, and AOL. Content is current - definitely post-2000 in thinking. Clearly worth the read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Industry Observer who knows people who KNOW!, May 30, 2001

By	Mickey Kampsen (Thousand Oaks, California USA) - See all my reviews

As a Recruiter who speaks to people constantly in the Industry (E-com, Biz Dev,Partnerships)...I can tell you I was excited about this book due to the content and the Buzz on the street. I found it to be Solid - top rate, insightful - with well thought out inovative,cutting edge stratagies. I found the writting style to be friendly even to the untrained ear and felt the book held up to everthing I'd expected from this team! Excellent stuff - Im anxious for the next project from these two!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredibly valuable -- a must-read, June 28, 2001

By	"[e-mail]" (Irvine, CA United States) - See all my reviews

For an organization to survive in today's economy, it's not just a matter of doing deals, but of doing deals in a strategic and systematic way. Geis and Geis emphasize this tenet and provide substantial evidence why a well-planned partnering methodology is critical for the future of any organization. Not only does "Digital Deals" explore a number of partnering models, but also uses extensive real world examples and case studies from familiar companies who battle with these challenges every single day.

This is a book that puts partnerships and alliances in perspective in terms of their usefulness, value and criticality for the future of any organization in today's complex, competitive business world. Highly recommended reading for executives in general and Business Development professionals in particular.