Since the business world is a very competitive place, companies and organizations often look for ways to gain strength and make themselves come out in front. One such way is to form an alliance with another company. There are many ways to form such alliances. The conditions and outcomes are both positive and negative because the market and economy are an ever-changing entity. A careful consideration of all possible ways that things might go wrong should be noted.
When forming an alliance, one must keep in mind the conditions that will come into force after the agreement to unite is made. The preparation and research are an important step before the papers are signed. Because the reasons to form the union are different, so are the conditions. For example, the alliance between the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy and the U.S. Business Leadership Network, decided that in order to facilitate and increase the employment rates of people with disabilities, they must form an alliance (Business alliance). The benefits of such action are very far reaching. Now, it is going to be much easier for people to get into the system and browse the jobs. The selection is much larger and also, the people directly involved in the recruiting process will take part in the search for jobs. Since they are involved in the alliance, they know what particular requirements to look for and this makes the selection process much easier and faster. The programs and educational sessions will create a better chance for the involvement of people with disabilities. But at the same, the negative effects of such an alliance are very much possible. Since the database is common for everyone, many people will be left out because there is a limit in the amount of spaces and jobs. When everyone registers in the same system the number of people will be so great that it might overflow the amount of requests. As each organization that agrees to certain conditions must input capital and other resources there is the benefit of a significant increase in the finances and the ability of organizations to develop. Very many businesses that are smaller will have a better chance at succeeding by uniting with another one (Malisow, 2006). The downside is that if there are problems or negative publicity, scandals, they will affect both companies even if only one is involved. The necessary sharing of the goals and plans can create competition within the alliance and destroy the relationship between people and organizations in general. Some data shows that the majority of alliances are forced to look for other avenues. Sometimes, the networks of alliances are with several companies at the same time and so, it creates too much friction and unneeded stress, which in turn leads to a heated relationship (Larraine, 2008). There is an enormous amount of information that must be processed and sometimes companies lose track of things that are crucial in their dealings with the market and each other. Overall, alliances create more opportunities for organizations but there are many circumstances and conditions that must be controlled, in order for such alliances to continue with the benefits of the union, instead of forcing them into a conflicting and money losing break up.
- ODEP partnership
- The benefits of alliances
- Negatives sides to the organizational alliances
- Reasons for the split
References
Business alliance. (2009). PN, 63(1), 34-35.
Larraine, D. S. (2008). Making business alliances work. Management Quarterly, 49(2), 30-35.
Malisow, C. (2006). Business alliances. Houston Press, pp. 1-N_A.