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2 Eur. J.L. Reform 651 (2000)
Strategic Alliance Mediation - Creating Value from Difference and Discord in Global Busines

handle is hein.journals/ejlr2 and id is 661 raw text is: Strategic Alliance Mediation - Creating
Value from Difference and Discord in
Global Business
Julian Gresser*
A. Introduction
To win the business alliance game you must capture and hold customers and
territory - by better products, property rights, swift marketing, sharper selling, and
other deft means. Speed is now the critical element in success, and close upon it, how
well you manage risk. Fifty years ago when we still had time, companies grew to
greatness on their own steam. Today CMGI, the Internet venture capital firm, will
complete a USD 900 million acquisition from start to finish (including due diligence)
in a week. But the acquisition route, as many companies are finding, is fraught with
dangers, because the welding together of disparate corporate cultures can be hard,
and the expense often prodigious. For these three reasons - territory, speed, and risk
strategic business alliances have become increasingly popular, growing at a pace
* Julian Gresser is a management consultant, international lawyer, professional negotiator
and Japan specialist. He has twice been Visiting Mitsubishi Professor at the Harvard Law
School and has served as an advisor to the US State Department, The World Bank, the
European Commission, and the Prime Minister's Office of Japan. He is the author of
Environmental Law in Japan (1981), Partners in Prosperity: Strategic Industries for the US
in Japan (1984), and Piloting Through Chaos: Wise Leadership/Effective Negotiation for the
21st Century (1996). Mr Gresser is the Chairman of the Council on Alliance Mediation in
the Association for Strategic Alliance Professionals (ASAP).
The author expresses his appreciation to the following friends and colleagues for their
comments on various drafts and outlines of this article and for materials provided: Peter
Murray, Frank Sander, Eileen Carroll, Karl Mackie, Peter Pekar, Richard Buxbaum,
Lynne S. Paine, John Place, Michael Miller, Steven Rosenberg, Bill Lundberg, Jim Kiel,
John Tarrant, and James Myers.
As used in this article, a 'strategic alliance' refers to a business organization with an important
strategic purpose, which involves a higher degree of integration than an arms-length supplier
or vendor relationship, but short of a merger or acquisition. Strategic alliances are being
formed to fill virtually every gap in a company's value production chain. Some alliances are
organized as joint ventures or legal partnerships, although not all alliances take this legal
structure. Not all joint ventures or partnerships are strategic alliances, and some alliances,
which are missing the critical strategic element, may nonetheless be 'tactical alliances'.
European Journal of Law Reform, Vol. 2, No. 4
© Julian Gresser 2000, All Rights Reserved. Published with permission of the author.

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