Your Alliances Are Too Stable

Leaders often deplore the short lifespan of alliances—five to seven years on average for joint ventures. Yet, more than their instability, they should be worrying about their excessive stability, argue the authors! Indeed, one of the main problems with alliances is their inability to adapt to shifts in context. The partners very often find themselves trapped in rigid contractual frameworks which each party tries to respect at all costs… until the damage on both sides is sufficiently great that they exercise the exit clauses. This article offers ideas on designing more scaleable alliances that can be restructured along the way to take account of changing circumstances.