Knowledge Resource Centre

Partnerships and Alliances

When building a partnership, two or more individual organisations combine their money, skills and other resources, and share profit and loss in accordance with terms of the partnership agreement. When building an alliance, two or more organisations create a shared organisational entity whilst still retaining individual identity and internal control. Partnerships and alliances are critical for organisations navigating an environment where outsourcing of all but core brand-related activities has become the norm. They differ from mergers or acquisitions because the individual identity of the participating organisations is maintained. They can therefore require new control methods and new management skills.