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Jordan D. Lewis, an internationally recognized strategic alliance expert, provides businessmen and women with the first full-scale analysis of strategic alliances, outlining how they strengthen companies and contribute to growth.Even as strategic alliances remain one of the most important competitive weapons in the business world, there continues to be uncertainty regarding the structure and boundaries of corporations coming together. Sharing the knowledge he gained from over 500 interview hours with more than 100 executives of leading American, European, and Asian firms, Davis describes how the successful managers of these businesses structure and manage their alliances, from informal cooperation and minority investments to fully joint ventures and strategic networks. Within the pages of Partnerships for Profit aspiring business professionals can find information on how alliance partners build trust, develop mutual understandings, and make joint decisions while protecting their core interest and critical technologies.

Until now, the relationship between a company and its customers or suppliers has consisted of arms-length haggling over the price of a part or a service. Today, reveals alliance expert Jordan D. Lewis, customers and suppliers are actually embracing each other?sharing data, design work, and even research and development. The result, Lewis finds, has been a dramatic improvement in each firm's costs, quality, cycle times, and customer satisfaction?without added expense. Building on his groundbreaking work, Partnerships for Profit, Lewis shows managers how to maximize the potential of these new customer-supplier alliances?described by the Wall Street Journal as a "revolution"?by drawing upon his hands-on experience and research with best-practice firms worldwide such as Motorola, Chrysler, and Marks & Spencer.Although more and more firms now recognize the importance of customer-supplier alliances, few actually know how to make them work. Using interviews with employees ranging from top executives to purchasing and sales people, Lewis takes the reader inside these leading-edge companies and their top suppliers to show precisely how the "connected" corporation can double its competitive resources by forging customer-supplier relationships for greater financial strength, higher market share, more value, and increased operating flexibility.Lewis provides the tools managers need to structure and manage effective and successful alliances. He discusses all of the initial questions on how to get started?when to use alliances, how to choose the best partners, and how to set clear objectives targeted on high performance. Specific techniques are presented to foster joint creativity?from building interfirm teams to systems-based thinking?as well as methods for monitoring alliance performance and progress. Lewis also shows ways to develop the foundation of cooperation, negotiation, and trust between partners which is so crucial in achieving optimum competitive advantage.By capitalizing on the new customer-supplier alliances, any firm can increase its competitiveness regardless of industry, company size, or whether its focus is on goods or services. Lewis provides managers of all types with the framework they need to avoid the pitfalls and enjoy the full benefits of the connected corporation.

Trust is the glue that holds organizations together. More powerful than contracts or authority, trust enables partner companies -- or groups within a company -- to achieve results that exceed the sum of the parts. Without trust, alliances fail. In "Trusted Partners, " internationally recognized alliance expert Jordan Lewis draws on four decades of advising and managing alliances to show -- for the first time -- how to build and sustain trust between and within organizations. A comprehensive and multifaceted analysis of trust, "Trusted Partners" shows how to develop, manage, measure, improve, or repair this important dimension of every business relationship. "Trust must be constructed, one step at a time," Lewis maintains. He breaks significant new ground by describing each of these steps -- including how to assemble the elusive interpersonal, leadership, political, organizational, structural, and governance components of trust. Clear in its explanation of what trust entails, "Trusted Partners" uses dozens of stories and case examples, among them alliances between Canon and Hewlett-Packard, Ford and ABB, and Procter & Gamble and Wal-Mart, all of which achieved market-beating results. Lewis begins by establishing eight conditions for trust and shows how to determine if trust is possible. He then details: * How to build, manage, and repair trust * How to trust difficult customers * How to sell alliances to customers * How to trust a rival * How to build trust between internal groups * How to create a culture of trust * How to build trust in mergers and acquisitions Concluding "Trusted Partners" is a section entitled "Tools for Trust." This practical, easy-to-use reference guide covers in depth all the key aspects of trust -- from measuring trust and using alliance ethics to sharing know-how and benefits, working with attorneys, and choosing the best alliance structure. At a time when alliances have become a preferred competitive strategy for most companies, and with most alliances ending as failures, management at all levels cannot afford to ignore this powerful book.