Alliance Management

(Original prompt for you consideration,

 Alliances are often used to pursue business-level goals, but they may be managed at the corporate level. Explain why this portfolio approach to alliance management would make sense.)

Prompt 1:  Strategic alliances have many beneficials aspects for firms that take advantage of them. From a corporate stand point, alliances can help mitigate risk and expenses. Developing mutually beneficial relationship with other like-minded companies can reduce the amount marketing and advertising they pour into some of their products. The alliances can do that for them with their inherent business model. An example would be Proctor & Gamble that produces many household cleaners we use everyday. Most of these cleaners use a byproduct of orange peels to provide fresh scent and added strength to the cleaner. P & G own and or invest in several orange groves in different regions. While they do not harvest and sell oranges themselves, the arrangement, or alliance, with the orange growers provides for them a strategic advantage to receive a product they need to help manufacture one of their larger product lines. The alliance not only cuts down on costs as they reduce their direct supply chain, but also affords them a modicum of control over it all. Because their corporate own the land. the oranges are grown on, they have some influence as to the prices and inventory of the orange peel byproduct.

Prompt 2:Alliances are used both in and out of business-level and corporate-level goals to help businesses achieve a more successful outcome. Alliances can help strengthen competition in the business, create more efficiency, help improve company capabilities, and help one or both companies enter new markets. It can help both companies also become stronger overall against new and emerging companies in the same market because it helps solve and cut out added risks. An example could be something as small as a music artist pairing up with a large make up or skin care corporation to release their take on what make up or skin care looks like. This can benefit the music artist because he or she is now opening up a broader spectrum with their name behind it which can generate more revenue and exposure on their end. This can benefit the company or corporation that they are teaming up with because it gives exposure to the company and give more solidarity that the company is a good company because it has a known name added to it other than just the company name and can draw in a different customer base for them.