Using alliances to destabilize market values

Warns that managers who base strategic alliances on the popular marriage metaphor are mistaken — especially in fast‐moving markets. Bases research on consulting work in partnership alliances for British Aerospace, Moog Controls International and General Motors (Europe), in addition to research at Cranfield University (UK) to the relationship between product innovation and process efficiency. Argues that a successful alternative to competition is co‐operation not conflict, concluding it is only in the form of a one‐night stand that strategic alliances in fast‐moving markets can succeed.