Executive Education

Contact Us

To receive a program consultation or a detailed schedule, please e-mail us or call 847.467.7000

Find the Right Executive Education Program for you

Related Programs

Compare programs
Take Advantage of Team Attendance Learn more
Become a Kellogg Executive Scholar Learn more
learning environment Our Learning Environment Learn more
Print Bookmark and Share

Creating and Managing Strategic Alliances

Develop Stronger Alliance Capabilities

Professor Tim CalkinsGrow your business more quickly and with lower cost and risk by using strategic alliances. In a world of resource constraints and intense battles for customers, firms are increasingly employing a variety of cooperative relationships to achieve their strategic objectives domestically and internationally. However, designing and maneuvering through alliances are very challenging activities. Through collaborative learning environment, you will be inspired with knowledge of how to create and manage different forms of strategic alliances such as joint ventures, licensing agreements, buyer-supplier partnerships and consortia. You will also develop a better sense of the costs and benefits of strategic alliances and learn the specific conditions under which alliances are preferred to internal development, mergers and acquisitions, or outsourcing.
Upcoming Sessions (Fee includes lodging and most meals)
Session Date Cost
September 29 - October 2, 2013 $6,000 Apply
March 16-19, 2014 $6,300 Apply
September 21-24, 2014 $6,300 Apply

Program Materials

If you are a mid or upper-level manager who is involved in the creation and/or implementation of strategic alliances, this program is designed for you.  Individuals with responsibilities for business development, strategic planning, marketing, and operating strategic alliances are encouraged to attend.

Professionals offering legal, accounting, or management consulting services to firms engaged in or considering strategic alliances may also benefit from this program.
In this program you will learn to:

  1. Analyze when to make, buy or ally
  2. Create and manage value-adding alliances
  3. Avoid common pitfalls in alliance failures
  4. Negotiate before, during and after alliance agreements have been signed
  5. Anticipate critical legal, financial and operational issues in alliances
  6. Manage complex, multiple alliance situations within organizations

Promise and Pitfalls of Alliances
  1. Evaluate risks and returns

Avoiding Alliance Failure Factors
  1. Increase the probability of successful alliance
  2. Address the challenge of cooperation when coordinating large numbers of partners

Make, Buy or Ally
  1. When to use alliances as a business development vehicle
  2. Protect your company’s interests in alliances strategically and contractually
  3. Detect when your partner has a win/lose orientation
  4. Understand the role of alliances in the network economy

Alliance Decisions
  1. Change your status from vendor to partner

Alliance Capabilities
  1. Develop an alliance capability across the organization
  2. Structure an alliance for organizational learning
  3. Create alliances with an organization

Alliances in Emerging Economies
  1. Deal with cultural differences in alliances

Alliances and Governance Issues
  1. Anticipate critical legal, accounting and financial issues in alliances

Designing Joint Ventures
  1. Strategic and operational considerations
  2. Find values in cooperation
  3. Anticipate conflict and instability when your company has multiple alliances

Mapping Competitors’ Alliances
  1. A framework for industry analysis
Edward Zajac - Academic Director; James F. Bere Professor of Management & Organizations; Chair of the Management & Organizations Department; Director of Kellogg’s Center for Strategic Alliance Research

James Anderson - William L. Ford Professor of Marketing and Wholesale Distribution

Kim-Chi Wakefield Trinh - Clinical Assistant Professor of Management and Organizations

Featured Faculty Video

  •   Professor Ed Zajac: The impact of alliance strategies on implementation across different cultures

What Past Participants Say

  • "This program meaningfully combined best practices and strong frameworks and gave us the true rationale, strategy, skills and pitfalls of strategic alliances in a short period of time."
    - Manager, Corporate Planning & Development Office, Hitachi Ltd.
  • "As a new participant in strategic alliances, we have been learning as we enter into a new partnership. This program has helped to dramatically speed up our learning. As a result, I expect to be better prepared for future partnerships."
    - Strategic Alliances VP, Wells Fargo Bank
  • "I feel equipped now to maximize the value of current alliances and confident in establishing new ventures."
    - General Manager, Biotechnology, Monsanto Canada, Inc.

Connect With Kellogg Executive Education

Connect with the Kellogg School of Management and stay up to date on the findings from our latest research. Followers of Kellogg will receive updates on trends in executive education and upcoming courses at the Kellogg School of Management.
Executive Education blog Kellogg Faculty Blogs
Join us on LinkedIn Past Participants Join us on LinkedIn
Twitter Follow on Twitter
Facebook Like us on Facebook
Request a Brochure Email Us Subscribe to our Newsletter Read Kellogg Insight
Bookmark and Share