Assignment
1. In planning alliances, top management teams often overlook critical issues. This is especiaily true in the area of information technology. Many alliances fail because the computer systems or internal inforn1ation reporting systems are not well matched. For each type of alliance structure described in the text, what issues do you believe would be critical in planning for the integration and sharing of information in an alliance partnership? How do these issues differ by type of alliance?
2.If an alliance is in the future of the organiza¬ tion you are working for, what are some of the issues each level of the organization should be concerned with ? In other words,what are the issues that top management should address? Middle management? Super¬ visors? Non-ma nagement personnel? What are the potential advantages of an alliance for each of the levels?
3.You have formed a number of alliances in your personal life at work, at school, and with your family. How have these pa ralleled the types of alliances described in this chap¬ ter? For example, marriage is a very formal alliance that has the potential for great syn¬ ergies and great pain. Think about some of the types of alliances you have formed . What have been the keys to success for these alliances? What did you learn from these ex¬periences about future alliances?