Options in alliances : valuing flexibility in inter-firm collaborations

The real options-based conceptual framework for alliance-making presented here responds to the challenge of developing a new metrics for managing strategic partnerships in the face of uncertainty. Such a framework involves: mapping (and selecting one of) the various staged paths envisioned for the start-up and development of the alliance in terms of strategic options exercisable over the lifetime of the cooperative venture; assessing the incremental, synergistic value of those options (if exercised on the net, tangible and intangible, assets of the venture); anticipating the potential impact o