Non-Cooperation - The Dark Side of Strategic Alliances

Strategic alliances can create competitive advantages for firms. But, alliances also bring new risks. Managers must be realistic about firms' behaviours in alliances: non-cooperation can result in the failure of an alliance or a firm. What factors generate non-cooperative impulses? What allows firms to act on them? How can alliances be structured to reduce opportunities for non-cooperation? This book explores the different influences on firms' attitudes toward cooperation and highlights the connections between these factors. The book also provides a framework for assessing how much alliance partners need each other's resources, and to identify which firms are able to act on non-cooperative impulses. A series of case studies operationalize the theory and the framework. The Microsoft case uses documents from its US antitrust trial to show how it used its partners' reliance on it to its advantage. The airline industry alliances and the Ballard case, which traces the development of commercial fuel-cell vehicles, show how firms use formal and informal structures to strengthen ties amongst alliance partners.

Table of Contents:
List of Figures and Tables Foreword Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Used PART 1: THE DARK SIDE OF STRATEGIC ALLIANCES What is a Strategic Alliance Alliances: The Double-Edged Sword Organization of the Book PART 2: THE CHALLENGE OF NON-COOPERATION Assumptions Cooperation and Non-Cooperation Influences on the Firm's Attitude Toward Alliance Summary PART 3: POWER AND INTERDEPENDENCE: THE FIRM'S ABILITY TO ACT Defining Power and Interdependence Measuring Power and Interdependence Applying Power and Interdependence PART 4: MICROSOFT: POWER AND THE LIMITS OF POWER Why Microsoft? Influences on the Firm's Behaviour Power and Interdependence Microsoft in the PC Market: Exercising Power Microsoft and Technology Convergence: The Limits of Power Conclusions PART 5: POWERING THE FUEL CELL VEHICLE Technologies and Markets Ballard Power Systems Power and Interdependence Constructing Interdependence Conclusions PART 6: GLOBAL AIRLINE ALLIANCES: CONSTRUCTING INTERDEPENDENCE Industry Environment The Rise of Alliance Influences on Firm Behaviour Behaviours Power and Interdependence Historical Alliances Swissair Modern Era of Global Alliances Conclusions PART 7: PUTTING THE FIRM BACK INTO ALLIANCE Lessons Learned Managerial Implications Going Forward

About the Author :
WILMA W. SUEN is a consultant in the technology and the airline industries, working with private and public sector clients. She has been specializing in corporate alliance issues since 1998. A native of Vancouver, she holds degrees from the University of British Columbia, the London School of Economics and the Fletcher School at Tufts University.

Review :
'The alliance field is already congested with books and articles that all too often follow well-worn paths. This book is different. It aims to redress some imbalances in the conventional wisdom in the field and to introduce new perspectives. As such, it justifies our attention in a crowded field and deserves to be studied by alliance scholars and managers alike.' - Benjamin Gomes-Casseres, Professor of International Business, Brandeis University, USA 'Firms must be as wary of their partners as their competitors. This book offers unique insights into the role of power and interdependence in sustaining alliances and in allocating their gains fairly or unfairly, depending upon one's point of view. Wilma Suen's theory opens a promising new avenue for interdisciplinary academic researchers to build upon, and may prove invaluable to business leaders watching their backs and their allies.' - Lee W. McKnight, Associate Professor of Information Studies, Syracuse University, USA; Research Affiliate, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA; and Founder, Chairman, President, and interim CEO, Wireless Grids Corporation, USA 'Firms cooperate to compete. Understood as a means towards an end strategic alliances are a key component of corporate global strategies as long as they are used opportunistically. Asking why do strategic alliances fail this path-breaking book focuses on their dark side - the why and how of non-cooperation which result in the demise of 50% of all alliances. By forcing managers to take a realistic view of alliances dynamic costs/benefits ratio this study will guide any executives designing new alliances, managing existing alliances or scheming exit from stalled alliances. A must read for the savvy and nimble geocentric manager of the twenty-first-century.' - Laurent L. Jacque, Academic Dean and Walter B. Wriston Professor of International Finance and Banking, The Fletcher School, Tufts University, USA; and HEC School of Management, France