Strategic Partnerships that work: Hewlett Packard & Mac, Dell & Microsoft - Can you suggest one? | Debi Mishra

In recent years, firms have moved away from the traditional mode of 'arms-length' transactions toward inter-firm ties based on long term partnerships. It has been argued that this change in emphasis has bestowed firms with competitive advantage in the marketplace. Stated differently, today firms create more value ‘outside’ their boundaries by initiating, developing, and enhancing inter-firm partnerships. Case in point—Dell.

Read about Dell's partnership with Microsoft.

What is special about Dell? To answer this question, consider the power of ‘partnerships’ and why a company like COMPAQ had to eventually merge with HP. Compaq could never convince ‘retailers’ that selling over the Internet was viable because these retailers were worried about a loss in their market share. Hence Compaq was mired in the morass of ‘sticky’ unproductive relationships that proved disastrous. 

Another example is the HP and Mac alliance.

While there is general recognition about the power of strategic partnerships, relatively little guidance is available to mangers on the appropriate mechanisms that can be used to set-up, nurture, and grow these partnerships. Over the past two decades, Dr. Mishra has worked with numerous Fortune 500 companies around the world and developed actionable models that provide guidance to managers on how to best manage such relationships.

All this and more will be covered in Dr. Mishra's Executive Series program, Managing Strategic Partnerships, starting 2nd March.

Debi Mishra