1 TELL ME NOW Your partner in the provision of Research & Strategic Business Information Friends or Foe: Strategic alliances in the noughties Paper presented at Rivers of knowledge 9th Specials, Health and Law Libraries Conference August 2001

2 TELL ME NOW Friends or Foe: Strategic alliances in the noughties  What is a strategic alliance  Business view of strategic alliances  Types of alliances  Historical alliances in Library and Information Science  Success factors  Reasons for failure  Expand service offerings through alliances - external  Expand service offerings through alliances - internal  Conclusion

3 What is a strategic alliance  A common strategy is developed in unison and a win = win attitude is adopted by all parties  the relationship is reciprocal with each partner prepared to share specific strengths with each other  a pooling of resources for mutual gain (John Harbison - Booz Allen Hamilton)  a long term relationship where participants co-operate and willingly modify their business practices to improve joint performance (Whipple & Frankel Journal of Supply Chain Management) Friends or foe

4 Business view of strategic alliances  Alliances are preferred by companies entering new businesses, new geographies or accessing new distribution channels  Simple and flexible contractual alliances and consortia are better received than complicated equity ventures  Alliances have gained popularity in the last 10 years due to the Internet and the associated e-business issues.  McKinsey study showed that 50% of alliances are successful, measured by stock price movements following the announcement. (Ernst & Halevy - McKinsey Quarterly 2000)

5 Friends or foe Types of alliances  Customer and supplier  Competitor  Geographic  Sales alliances  Employees

6 Friends or foe Historical alliances in Library and Information Science  Shared cataloguing - ABN  Shared purchasing - Technilib  ILL - Ilanet  Joint catalogues and resources sharing – CAVAL.

7 Friends or foe Success factors  Open communication.  Trust  Commitment by senior management  Ability to meet performance objectives  Clear goals  Partner compatibility  Adequate resourcing

8 Friends or foe Reasons for failure  Unclear goals and objectives  Picking the wrong partner  Not enough commitment by senior management.  Inadequate resourcing  Closed communication channels.  Changing company circumstances.

9 Friends or foe Expand service offerings through alliances - External  IT vendors - innovative systems to deliver information  Consolidation services - journals & books  Business information services - extra subject specialisation  Online vendors - intranet solutions

10 Friends or foe Expand service offerings through alliances - Internal  IT department - Knowledge Management Systems Intranets  HR & Training - Intranets  Records Management - One stop shop for documents  Accounts - Co-ordination of Information Supplies

11 Friends or foe - Conclusion Alliances - Friends not foe?  Enhance capabilities  Increase service offerings  Gain exposure to non- clients  Encourage teamwork  Become the Organisations one stop ‘Information’ shop