Partnerships for Profit Structuring and Managing Strategic Alliances

Faced with new levels of savage competition, tens of thousands of companies, including fierce competitors, are sharing their resources and expertise to develop new products, achieve larger scale economies, and gain access to new technology and new markets. These strategic alliances are justifiably hailed by many as the competitive weapon of the 1990s. But because they are blurring and reshaping the very structure and boundaries of corporations in unprecedented ways, the process of designing and managing these alliances confronts managers with the awesome task of inventing theory and practice on a daily basis. Up to now, they have had few places to turn for guidance.

Jordan D. Lewis, an international consultant, author, and lecturer, advises many of the world's leading firms and is a well-known expert on strategic alliances. A Fellow of the World Economic Forum, he has been profiled by CNN, "Business Day," Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and Japan Times. He lives in Washington, DC.