Smart Alliances: A Practical Guide to Repeatable Success (A Strategy & Business Book) (Hardcover)

by John R. Harbison (Author), Jr. Peter Pekar (Author) "It was a brisk November day at the Zhukovsky airfield outside Moscow as Sergei Borisov, a test for the Tupolev Design Bureau, taxied his Tu-144LL..." (more)
Key Phrases: United States, Fuji Xerox, Latin America (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"An extraordinarily practical guide to making alliances work. Highly recommended to anyone at the sharp end of a strategic alliance." -Gary Hamel, associate professor, London Business School, and coauthor, Competing for the Future

"Harbison and Pekar bring substance and depth to a topic that has all too often been discussed in mere platitudes. Their advice on how to manage cross-border alliances in a rapidly changing global economy is essential reading." -John A. Quelch, Sebastian S. Kreske Professor of Marketing, Harvard University

"As the president of an association that endeavors to provide our membership with practical guidelines for alliances, I found this book to be one of the best guides on the subject-clearly pointing out the successful as well as the unsuccessful routes to higher return on equity through alliances." -Charles H. Conner, president, Association for Corporate Growth

"John Harbison and Peter Pekar have assembled a decade of their writings and consulting experience on alliances into a fascinating manual. Direct and comprehensive, their book represents an unusual combination of thoughtful analysis and pragmatic advice." -Bruce Kogut, Dr. Felix Zandman Professor of International Management, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

Product Description
8 steps to successful strategic alliances--from the experts at Booz Allen & Hamilton

Turn to any business section in any newspaper today and you?ll find no shortage of stories about high-profile international strategic alliances. Many are success stories. The majority, however, are not. Now, you can learn what separates the successes -- like those of Corning, Mazda, and Oracle -- from the failures. In Smart Alliances, the two senior consultants who made Booz-Allen & Hamilton the foremost authority on alliance strategy present eight practical steps any company can take to adopt the best practices of today?s alliance leaders and turn them to their own competitive advantage.

A Strategy & Business Book

For more information on the fast growing and challenging world of Strategic Alliances, click here to visit the smartalliances.com website.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 170 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (October 9, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787943266
• ISBN-13: 978-0787943264
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,017,959 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars High level introductory text, January 28, 2000

By A Customer

This book is targeted to large traditional corporations - not the "new economy" companies that are doing a lot of the alliances these days.

It also lacks depth, providing only an outline of the Booze Hamilton approach to alliances. The book is a sales tool in that if you want to learn all the details of their process, you must buy an engagement in addition to the book.

So, if you are with a large corporation, skip the book and call a consultant. If you are in the new economy skip the book.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Intro Text, July 31, 2000

By A Customer

I gave this book 2 stars rather than 1, as it is a decent introductory text (with its share of fluff) with a couple of good charts (though a preponderance of "filler" charts). However, the book is a thinly disguised publicity push of Booz Allen (and a few others). And the book is impractical since it is virtually devoid of tools--rather useless for the professional. Caveat emptor.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Lite-weight with no real substance, April 30, 1999

By	Kevin J. Mclaughlin "Rock guitarist wanabe" (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Covers the subject at a very high level with lots of consultant charts, tables and matrices. Great stuff if you need to fill a presentation with a lot of fluff. Deffinitely a teaser for a Booz&Allen consulting gig. You get a glimps of their template tools and lots of reference to how effective they are. Some interesting reading regarding major corporate alliance success stories, but never much drill-down. This book is targeted for the completely clueless exec, the dilentante on a long flight, any consultant-type who wants to look like they know something, or the B-school prof who adds this title to his supplemental reading list. Not recommended if you are the one who needs to make an alliance happen at your company. Let me know if there exist a more hands-on guide to making alliances happen.