Global Business Alliances

Forging business alliances can vitalize corporate strategies. This book is a road map to the concepts and theories underlying successful business alliances in four critical industries: automobile manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, airlines, and telecommunications. Dr. Culpan offers the essentials of global partnering as seen from a strategic management viewpoint. He examines joint ventures, non-equity alliances, and business options designed to give a competitive edge over other allied firms. New conceptual models help to clarify various strategies and collaborative processes.

By comparing the four major industries—and specific companies in each—this study explores not only the uniqueness of its subjects, but also the common grounds of various multinationals. Through key insights and ideas, the possibilities and realities of corporate alliances begin to emerge. Attention is also paid to the decision-making process as it relates cooperative ventures, as well as to the inevitable managerial challenges of forming, and managing, strategic alliances. The result is an astute analysis ideal for teachers, students, and strategists seeking fresh insights into the workings and benefits of corporate alliance.

REFIK CULPAN is Professor of Management and International Business in the School of Business Administration, Pennsylvania State University. He holds a doctorate degree from New York University and has had extensive experience, not only in the academic community but as a consultant to various businesses. Dr. Culpan is a regular contributor to the journals of his fields, and coeditor of a previous book for Quorum, Transformation Management in Postcommunist Countries (1995, with Brij Nino Kumar.)