“Restructuring one of our alliances was overdue and your research and guidance provided the catalyst for change. Thank you, I’m not sure I could have convinced our alliance partner of the need for change and the right structure moving forward without your insight.” Dean Pope General Manager, Business Development Canada Post
The Future of Alliance Management It’s a Complex World. Let The Rhythm of Business Help You Navigate It. Increasingly, alliance managers are being asked to do more with less. Larger alliance portfolios. More complex collaborations. Fewer organizational resources. Don’t Go It Alone. When the challenges of complexity and scale threaten the success of alliance portfolios, alliance leaders turn to The Rhythm of Business for clarity, deep insights, and step-by-step help. At The Rhythm of Business, we serve as thinking partners and guides, providing cost-effective strategies, frameworks, and tools that: + Increase alliance performance and effectiveness + Drive financial results and other measurable value + Reduce complexity (and risk) in your alliance portfolio Take Your Collaborative Capabilities to the Next Level. The Rhythm of Business is your “center of alliance excellence,” and a resource for comprehensive support, such as: + Partnering program design + Alliance organization, staffing, and process design + Guidebooks, toolkits, and alliance metrics + Help with alliance start-ups, strategic planning, ongoing assessments, and interventions + Customized, targeted education for alliance managers, teams, and executives + Alliance portfolio analysis, mapping, and planning + Internal marketing and communications programs Partner with the Collaborative Business Specialists. Our consulting, education, and research services focus on driving innovation and growth through alliances and other collaborative relationships. We’re passionate about advancing the discipline and profession of alliance management across sectors, throughout industries, and around the world. Your Guide to the Future of Alliance Management Contact The Rhythm of Business today at +1 617 965 4777 or info@rhythmofbusiness.com to begin, or continue, your journey down the path toward successful alliance management.
Don’t Follow. Join the Leaders. Don’t miss your chance to engage in a discussion about gaining sustainable executive support. ASAP Global Alliance Summit Session 102 – Show Me the Money!: Demonstrating Alliance Management’s Key Strategic Role to the C-Suite – Tuesday, March 5th, at 2:10 p.m. Call +1.617.965.4777 and visit our website at rhythmofbusiness.com to access our extensive library of publications, presentations, tools, and other resources.
Don’t Just State the Obvious
Find the deeper insights all alliance managers need to succeed – in ASAP’s Fourth State of Alliance Management Study It’s clear that the alliance management profession has come a long way since the first ASAP State of Alliance Management Study in 2001. But the what, how, and why of our progress as a profession – and especially where we’re headed and what we need to do to improve – are not so obvious. Deeper answers require deeper research and analysis. With three more editions of the study conducted over the course of a decade, our fourth version, The State of Alliance Management: Past, Present, Future, provides this unparalleled and unprecedented depth. Contact ASAP today to order copies for you and your colleagues. Inside this crucial survey of 272 individuals representing 230 companies across the world, you will find powerful insights about: n Alliance success rates – and factors that influence outcomes n The evolution of alliance professionals and roles n The effectiveness of proliferating alliance tools n The growing focus on the importance of alliance culture
Order your copies today!
The State of Alliance Management: Past, Present, Future is $59.99 for ASAP Members and $99.99 for nonmembers. Contact Pam Goodell at +1 781-562-1630 ext. 202 or pgoodell@strategic-alliances.org to get your copy today! www.rhythmofbusiness.com
960 Turnpike St, Canton MA 02021 USA Tel: +1- 781-562-1630 strategic-alliances.org info@strategic-alliances.org
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Alliance Management?
We wrote the book on Alliance Management! The ASAP Handbook of Alliance Management: A Practitioner’s Guide, 3rd edition, is the only compendium of alliance management practices, principles, and current professional standards that puts all the information you need in one unique, indispensable resource. This new publication provides: n An unequaled body of knowledge for alliance professionals at every level n A substantive update and revision of previous editions n All-new material, including a new section on emerging topics in alliance management For your career, your alliances, and your company’s alliance management practice, you can’t afford to be without The ASAP Handbook of Alliance Management: A Practitioner’s Guide.
Order your copy today!
$299.99 for nonmembers. Up to 60% discount for ASAP Members. For more information or to order, go to strategic-alliances.org/handbook. 4
960 Turnpike St, Canton MA 02021 USA Tel: +1-781-562-1630 strategic-alliances.org info@strategic-alliances.org
Strategic Alliance Magazine
up front
raising Our Game
With the Global Alliance Summit, The ASAP Handbook of Alliance Management, and Our Certification and Education Programs, ASAP Is Working to Enhance Your Professional Development and Advance Our Profession By Art Canter
ASAP AND ASAP MEDIA SPENT THE BETTER PART OF 2012 pointing out that collaboration is now on the minds of senior executives, and we have illustrated the inroads alliance management has made in establishing an ongoing dialogue with the C-Suite about its increasingly crucial role in overall company strategy. We have their ears. All eyes are on us. It’s now up to ASAP and the profession to deliver in 2013 and beyond. In ASAP’s early years, the organization recognized the need to develop, aggregate, and maintain state-of-the-art alliance management methodologies, frameworks, and thinking, and to provide formalized training in these principles so that practitioners could give their alliances the best chance to succeed. Simply put, to succeed as a profession, we needed our professionals to be their best. Early on, we released the first two versions of a book then called the Strategic Best Process Workbook. In 2007, we launched our certification program, one of the most powerful professional development initiatives the alliance management community has ever known. We have seen these efforts pay off over the years in the form of higher alliance success rates for ASAP members as compared with nonmembers and industry norms. Meanwhile, several hundred professionals have certified themselves in alliance management and “raised their game” as a result of their command of the craft. Yet we as a profession may only realize the most Quarter 1, 2013
significant gains of our collective efforts in the next few years as we illustrate the profound impact sophisticated approaches to alliance management can have in making organizations flourish in today’s increasingly confounding business landscape. At ASAP, we realize this is no time to plateau in our constant endeavor to provide our members the tools to optimize their performance. The third edition of the book mentioned above, now called The ASAP Handbook of Alliance Management: A Practitioner’s Guide, is now available, and it’s more than just an update to the latest practices, processes, and principles; its content reflects the global economic changes that have taken place over the last decade. And although the ASAP Global Alliance Summit provides explicit education in the form of workshops to prepare for the CA-AM and CSAP exams, the Summit’s networking and programming make the event itself one of the most valuable educational tools for people at the beginning of their careers and top alliance officers alike.
For those who cannot attend the Summit, our Education Provider Partner Program (EPPP) empowers alliance pros to obtain any type of mentoring or training wherever they are and whenever they need it—whether it is to instill or augment general skills, conquer a specific challenge in their day-to-day workflows, or work toward earning CA-AM or CSAP credentials. Even this magazine has evolved to include a new section titled “Your Career” that will provide content around a particular facet of career advancement or skill building in each issue. We only succeed when you have everything you need to succeed. As a community that strives for “win-win” arrangements, we wouldn’t have it any other way. Art Canter, president and CEO of ASAP, is executive publisher of Strategic Alliance Magazine. 5
Quarter 1, 2013
The magazine of the Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals AN ASAP MEDIA PUBLICATION www.ASAPmedia.org www.strategic-alliances.org EDITORIAL TEAM Art Canter, Executive Publisher +1-781-562-1630 ext. 201 acanter@strategic-alliances.org John W. DeWitt, Publisher +1-978-544-1866 jdewitt@ASAPmedia.org Jon Lavietes, Editorial Director +1-415-572-4408 jlavietes@ASAPmedia.org Michael Burke, Editor-in-Chief +1-413-345-1624 mburke@ASAPmedia.org Greg Caulton, Creative Director +1-413-461-7096 gcaulton@ASAPmedia.org Matthew Wimmer, Design and Online Media Manager +1-774-316-0916 mwimmer@ASAPmedia.org Michelle Duga, Sponsorship Coordinator +1-978-544-1866 mduga@ASAPmedia.org Emily Bayard, Image Researcher +1-413-461-7096 emily@gregcaulton.com Ben Olson, Graphic Designer +1-585-245-4796 1benolson@gmail.com ASAP STAFF Art Canter, President and CEO +1-781-562-1630 ext. 201 acanter@strategic-alliances.org Pam Goodell, CA-AM, Vice President of Operations +1-781-562-1630 ext. 202 pgoodell@strategic-alliances.org Lori Gold, Senior Manager of Membership Services +1-781-562-1630 ext. 203 lgold@strategic-alliances.org Michele Shannon, CA-AM, CMP Senior Meeting & Event Manager +1-781-562-1630 ext. 204 mshannon@strategic-alliances.org Kimberly T. Miller, Marketing Manager +1-781-562-1630 ext. 208 kmiller@strategic-alliances.org Brendan Ward, Administrative Support +1-781-562-1630 ext. 200 bward@strategic-alliances.org Diane Lemkin, Accounting Manager +1-781-562-1630 ext. 206 dianel@strategic-alliances.org Jennifer Silver, Certification Coordinator +1-781-562-1630 ext. 205 jsilver@strategic-alliances.org Michele Yudysky, Membership Coordinator, +1-781-562-1630 ext. 209 myudysky@strategic-alliances.org © Copyright 2013 Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals. All Rights Reserved.
in this issue
18
n PARTNER SELECTION
Making the Right Match
There’s No One Way to Find an Ally, but a Few Broad Partner Selection Principles Help Companies Find the Partner That “Fits” | By Jon Lavietes
Partner selection is an important phase of the alliance life cycle. Although conducting a thorough search for new partners cannot guarantee alliance success— all phases of the cycle are critical to driving a partnership to fruition—it certainly helps provide a solid foundation on which you and your partners can build.
22
n Collaborative Technologies
Portals, Platforms, and Points of Connection
The Right Collaborative Technologies Can Advance Your Alliance or Partner Ecosystem By John DeWitt and Jon Lavietes
There are many technologies that profess to help you collaborate. Here is how to find a technology solution that can truly bolster your alliance management operations and get key stakeholders to adopt it.
26
n Unusual Alliances
Strange Bedfellows
Across Industries, Companies, and Cultures, New Economic Imperatives and Changing Industry Dynamics Are Driving the Formation of Unusual Alliances | By Michael Burke
Rapidly changing economic conditions and industry-specific challenges have prompted a number of companies to look farther afield in their search for partners. Innovative crossindustry and cross-cultural alliances have consequently cropped up all over the landscape, leading to a number of “strange bedfellows.” And whereas in some industries this is a novel but growing trend, in others it’s becoming business as usual. 6
30
n 2013 Global ALLIANCE Summit Preview
Leadership. Performance. Value.
It’s Sunny Skies for the 2013 ASAP Global Alliance Summit and the Alliance Management Profession in Orlando By Michael Burke
Orlando, Fla., will be the site in early March of the 2013 ASAP Global Alliance Summit, the world’s largest and most prestigious annual gathering of alliance management professionals. This event promises to deliver all the highcaliber networking, skill-building, and educational opportunities the Summit has always been known for— plus new session tracks, new content, new speakers, and favorite presenters back by popular demand.
35
n Governance Design
Steady as She Goes
How Focus, Discipline Help an Alliance Stay on Course By David Thompson, CA-AM, and Steven E. Twait, CSAP
43
n CEO FORUM
Q&A with Andrew Miller, President and Chief Executive Officer, Polycom
The authors of a four-part series on alliance governance deliver the third installment, which examines the “Steady State” phase of an alliance. In between the “Start-up” and “Wind-down” phases, the “Steady State” can last decades in some partnerships. At certain times, this stage of an alliance can be anything but smooth. Here is what to expect in this phase and some principles to apply in navigating an alliance through it. Sponsored by Eli Lilly & Co.
Last year, Polycom consolidated all of its partnerships under one umbrella in its efforts to evolve a primarily hardware-based business model to meet the realities of today’s software- and cloud-driven IT marketplace. CEO Andrew Miller talks about that and more in our CEO Forum. Sponsored by Quintiles.
Regular Features: 5 n UP FRONT | By Art Canter ASAP Is Working to Enhance Your Professional Development and Advance Our Profession 11 n COLLABORATIVE BUZZ Alliance News Briefs | People in the News ASAP & ASAP Partner Calendar of Events | ASAP Chapter Updates Quarter 1, 2013
15 n ASAP MEMBER SPOTLIGHT Spanning the Globe Takeda Pharmaceuticals’ Alliance Management Practice Helps Bridge Continental Divides
7
Quarter 1, 2013
The magazine of the Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals ASAP Executive COMMITTEE Russ Buchanan, CSAP ASAP Chairman of the Board Vice President, Worldwide Alliances, Xerox Corp. Jack Pearson, CSAP ASAP Vice Chairman Managing Director & Chief Alliance Officer, Alliance Development International, LLC Harry Atkins, CSAP ASAP Treasurer Senior Director, Corporate Development, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Inc. Brian Handley, CA-AM ASAP Secretary Business Development, Emerson Corp. Christine Carberry, CSAP Chairman, ASAP Knowledge Base & Research Committee Vice President, Program & Alliance Management, EnVivo Pharmaceuticals Snehal Desai, CA-AM Chairman, ASAP Marketing Committee Global Marketing Director, The Dow Chemical Company Grif Morrel, CSAP Chairman, ASAP Chapter Presidents’ Council Senior Manager, Sales Business Development and Operations, Cisco Systems, Inc. Alistair Pim, CSAP Chairman, ASAP Professional Development Committee Vice President, Global Strategic Alliances, Schneider Electric Jan Twombly, CSAP Chairman, ASAP Program Committee President, The Rhythm of Business, Inc.
Strategic Alliance Magazine is published quarterly. Publisher is The Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals, 960 Turnpike Street, Canton, MA 02021, +1-781-562-1630. Subscriptions are $99 for one year, $189 for two years. Canadian subscriptions are $149 per year. All other international subscriptions are $199 (using air mail). Subscription inquiries: +1 781-562-1630. Periodicals postage is paid in Chicopee, MA, and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to STRATEGIC ALLIANCE MAGAZINE, 960 Turnpike Street, Canton, MA 02021. Copyright 2013, The Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For reprints, please contact The Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals, +1-781-562-1630. 8
in this issue 46
n Your Career
The Art of Storytelling
A “Yarn” Is More Than Just “Spin”—It’s a Powerful Way to Influence People and Motivate Change | By Jon Lavietes
Storytelling is a powerful skill that can communicate messages and galvanize people into action by tapping into their emotions. Two professional development consultants who spoke at ASAP events in 2012 said that the art form can be grasped by anyone—and can serve a valuable purpose for alliance management professionals.
50
n The Contract
An Alliance Manager’s Best Friend
Played Skillfully, the Alliance Manager’s Role Is Critical to Shaping, and Executing, the Contractual Provisions of the Partnership | By Kendra Eager
A guest author outlines how an alliance manager can help Legal craft an agreement that provides a solid foundation for a complex partnership with many unique intricacies, ensure that all stakeholders adhere to the contract’s provisions, and drive amendments that evolve the contract to fit the ever-changing needs of the alliance.
62
n THE CLOSE
Collaboration or Collapse?
It Takes an Alliance—and Alliance Managers’ Collaborative Skills—to Move the Planet Toward a Sustainable Future | By John DeWitt and Michael Burke
We’re all citizens of a fragile planet—including the companies we work for and with. The smarter ones have begun to recognize the business risk they face from the prospect of collapsing ecosystems, economies, and societies, and they’re doing something about it in the form of sustainable development alliances. It’s a challenge and an opportunity for alliance managers, and a new area in which to use their much-needed collaborative skills. Strategic Alliance Magazine
Make Your Alliances Work
Let Vantage Partners Help Your Company Negotiate and Manage Critical Relationships Conventional advice about alliances has not reduced their dismal failure rate. By working with Vantage, companies maximize the performance of individual alliances, put under-performing alliances back on track, and ensure coordination and optimization of their entire alliance portfolio. Success requires shifting your focus to a complementary set of principles. To help companies address and find solutions to their specific alliance challenges, Vantage Partners offers a broad range of services: Develop Your Alliance Strategy ▶ Define (or refine) an alliance strategy that meets overall corporate strategy and business unit objectives Benchmark Your Alliance Management Capability ▶ Benchmark your alliance management capabilities relative to competitors Design and Implement Your Alliance Management Program ▶ Create an alliance program blueprint and implement a framework for improved alliance success rates and better business results Launch Your New Alliances ▶ We facilitate a carefully designed set of activities between partners Remediate and Relaunch Relationships ▶ We conduct comprehensive assessments of alliance performance and help revitalize faltering partnerships
Alliance Management Training Solutions ▶ Designing and Implementing Comprehensive Alliance Training Curriculum ▶ Designing and Implementing Alliance-Specific Team Training ▶ Training Alliance Management Groups
About Vantage Partners Vantage Partners, a spin-off of the Harvard Negotiation Project, is a management consulting firm that specializes in helping companies achieve breakthrough business results by transforming the way they negotiate, and manage relationships with, key business partners. To learn more about Vantage Partners, visit www.vantagepartners.com, call +1 617 354 6090, or e-mail info@vantagepartners.com.
Helping Companies Negotiate and Manage Critical Relationships
Check Out Our New Alliance Compendium Receive “Making Alliances Work,” our new collection of complimentary Vantage Partners Alliance Management publications—including some of Vantage’s most requested HBR articles, white papers and research findings on the topics of alliances, negotiation, relationship management, and change management. To request your copy of “Making Alliances Work,” visit www.vantagepartners.com/ASAPAllianceCompendium.aspx
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Collaborative Buzz New Addition: Abbott Gives Birth to AbbVie By Michael Burke
Just after the New Year, Abbott Laboratories announced that it has completed the separation of its research-based pharmaceuticals business, thus establishing the new entity AbbVie as an independent biopharmaceutical company operating as a wholly owned subsidiary of Abbott. Company leaders celebrated by ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Jan. 2, 2013. With a 125-year history of developing pharmaceuticals, AbbVie (an ASAP Global Member) is a global biopharma enterprise with employees in more than 40 countries that serves patients in more than 170 countries around the world. According to a company press release, AbbVie launches with an estimated $18 billion in annual revenues and a commitment to creating shareholder value through long-term growth potential and the continuation of the company’s legacy of shareholder dividends. “AbbVie launches with an outstanding portfolio, a solid pipeline, and enthusiastic people who will serve patients and deliver growth,” said Richard A. Gonzalez, AbbVie’s chairman of the board and CEO. “With those assets and a relentless focus on innovation we intend to create significant value for our shareholders.” Significant AbbVie brands include Humira, AndroGel, Lupron, Creon, Synthroid, Kaletra, Norvir, and Zemplar. Abbott’s board of directors approved the previously announced plan to separate its research-based pharmaceuticals business into the newly formed AbbVie, which will sell Abbott’s proprietary drugs, while Abbott’s focus will include diagnostic tests, medical devices, and nutrition. AbbVie’s long-term growth is expected Quarter 1, 2013
to be fueled by a pipeline of more than 20 mid- to late-stage clinical programs—as well as new discoveries to address diseases including hepatitis C, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, spondyloarthropathies, multiple myeloma, and endometriosis. AbbVie has also tripled the number of new molecular entities in its pipeline over the last several years. AbbVie is committed to a collaborative approach to innovation across its global R&D and manufacturing sites. The company’s scientists rely on proprietary technologies and methods to help them more quickly advance the most promising compounds from laboratory to clinical trials. In addition, AbbVie’s research operates with a collaborative model that seeks to build the pipeline of discoveries from inside and outside the company’s own walls.
ASAP News New Chapter Mentoring Program in Silicon Valley
On Dec. 10, 2012, ASAP’s Silicon Valley chapter launched its new mentoring program at an event held on the campus of EMC in Santa Clara, Calif. Chapter president Nimma Bakshi, senior director with PwC Corporate Advisory Services, and former Silicon Valley
chapter presidents John Soper, CSAP, managing director at New Paradigms Marketing Group, and Jay Chitnis, director of business development and solutions marketing at EMC, welcomed the inaugural “mentees” who will be mentored over the course of a year (and perhaps longer) by four experienced industry professionals who have been designated lead mentors: n Sheryl Chamberlain, senior director for the corporate office of the CTO at EMC n Erna Arnesen, CSAP, formerly vice president of the Global & Transformational Services Partners Organization at Cisco n Shelley Hansen, CSAP, alliance channel director at Accenture n Carolyn Crandall, formerly vice president of worldwide marketing at Riverbed Technology Each of the four lead mentors will coach a group of four to six mentees ranging in experience from beginning alliance management professionals to veterans with 15 to 20 years of experience. Mentor program director Jennifer Kula, CA-AM, principal of Partner Smart, said that these more seasoned professionals—dubbed “experienced mentees,” of which there will be one in each of the four groups—will be considered for future lead mentor positions as the program evolves. 11
Collaborative Buzz The teams will meet monthly via conference call or in person to discuss specific topics related to the advancement of their careers, skills training, or general personal development. They will establish personal and professional goals up front, and evaluate their progress against those goals at the six- and 12-month marks of the program. The first assignment for the mentees? Composing and practicing three individual elevator pitches for the purposes of: 1) explaining the alliance management profession, 2) articulating the value they bring to their respective companies in their position, and 3) demonstrating the overall contribution of their alliances and portfolios. Content will be taken from a variety of sources, including Harvard Business Review talent management–related articles, and ASAP’s forthcoming Handbook of Alliance Management: A Practitioner’s Guide. “What we’re trying to do is [deliver] best practices supported by ASAP Global,” said Kula. Professionals interested in becoming a lead mentor or mentee can contact Kula at jkula@yahoo.com.
Groundbreaking Third Edition of The ASAP Handbook of Alliance Management Available Now
ASAP is kicking off 2013 by unveiling a comprehensive update to The ASAP Handbook of Alliance Management: A Practitioner’s Guide, the “Bible” for alliance management professionals. This third edition of the Handbook is the only compendium of state-of-theart alliance management practices, principles, and current professional standards—all the ingredients of the “secret sauce” that helps ASAP members drive their alliances to fruition at a significantly higher rate than the industry norm. The ASAP Handbook of Alliance Man12
agement is a must-read, and a musthave, for anyone learning the basics of alliance principles and best practices, as well as for seasoned alliance professionals who need the Handbook’s fresh insights to keep their practice up-to-date. This unequaled body of knowledge will be indispensable to the companies and individuals that are continually looking to optimize their partnerships for success. The brand-new third edition of The ASAP Handbook of Alliance Management is available for purchase at www. strategic-alliances.org/handbook ($299.99 for nonmembers, up to 60 percent off for ASAP members).
ASAP and ASAP Partner Events ASAP Midwest Chapter Event—ASAP Meets LES: Social Networking—What You Need to Know from a Panel of Experts 5:30–8:00 p.m. CT, February 7, 2013 Monroe Partners, 222 West Adams, Chicago, Ill., USA (for more information, go to https://netforum.avectra.com and click on “Upcoming Events”)
ASAP Netcast Webinar: Alliance Business Planning 12:30–1:30 p.m. ET, February 20, 2013 Speaker: Gregory Burge, CSAP, Principal Management Analyst, County of San Mateo, Calif.; Certified Mediator, Santa Clara County Courts; Director of Partnerships, ASAP Silicon Valley Chapter (for more information, go to www.strategic-alliances.org/webseminars/)
2013 ASAP Global Alliance Summit March 3–7, 2013 Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center, Orlando, Fla., USA (for more information, go to www.strategic-alliances.org/summit)
Alliance News
Citrix and NetApp Up Their File-Sharing Game
ASAP Global Member Citrix has announced that it is partnering with Corporate Member NetApp to help enterprises simplify and accelerate onpremise, large-scale data sharing and storage deployments. In response to strong market demand, the companies intend to deliver a solution optimized for Citrix ShareFile with StorageZones and leverage their joint partner communities to bring it to market. Citrix ShareFile is an enterprise followme data solution that allows users to sync and share data from any device. ShareFile with StorageZones allows IT to manage corporate data on premise, or in Citrix-managed secure cloud storage options, or a mix of both. Citrix ShareFile customers now have access to FAS and V-Series storage systems running clustered Data ONTAP. This allows customers who are storing their data on premise to tap NetApp Data ONTAP software to access data, scale performance and capacity, reduce datacenter footprint, and manage costs tightly.
Gilead Sciences and MacroGenics Target Cancer, Other Diseases
MacroGenics, Inc., has entered into a license agreement with ASAP Corporate Member Gilead Sciences, Inc., for the development and commercialization of Dual-Affinity Re-Targeting (DART) products directed at up to four undisclosed targets. MacroGenics’ DART technology is a proprietary, bi-specific antibody platform in which a single recombinant molecule is able to target two different antigens. “We look forward to building a longterm collaboration with MacroGenics in the development of bi-specific antibodies, which represents a promising new area of research,” said Roy D. Baynes, M.D., Ph.D., senior vice president of oncology Strategic Alliance Magazine
and inflammation therapeutics at Gilead. “This partnership underscores Gilead’s commitment to developing innovative therapies that address significant unmet medical needs for patients with cancer and other life-threatening diseases.” Under the terms of the agreement, MacroGenics could receive up to $30 million in license fee payments, and up to an additional $85 million in preclinical milestones across the four DART programs. Gilead has exclusive worldwide rights for three of the programs. Gilead will fully fund MacroGenics’ research activities with respect to the four programs. MacroGenics could also receive up to approximately $1 billion in clinical, regulatory, and commercialization milestone payments if all four programs achieve the requisite milestones, in addition to possible tiered royalties on future net sales.
Lovely Meters Made: Itron and Panasonic to Provide Smart Meters for Japan
Itron, Inc., announced that it has formed a strategic alliance with Panasonic Corporation to develop a smart meter platform tailored to the Japanese market. The companies will utilize their combined global experience and local presence to offer a smart metering solution that could meet Japan’s electric utilities’ needs and requirements today and into the future. As part of the agreement, Itron will design, develop, and deliver an Itron smart meter with its 3G cellular communications to Panasonic. Because of the inherent flexibility of the technology, the solution will support multiple communication options, including cellular, RF mesh, and power line carrier, to meet specific business needs and geographies. With this collaboration, Panasonic will expand its communications product line to the smart meter business, contributing to the realization of an ecological and smart-technology-enabled society via home energy management systems. Quarter 1, 2013
In Japan, the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry has mandated the adoption of smart meters over the next 10 years for nearly 80 million electric meters to help manage energy supply and demand. Smart meters are viewed as a key tool for gauging energy usage during peak hours so that utilities can offer special pricing programs to encourage reductions in energy consumption. This is important as Japan works to implement multiple technology and power generation alternatives to compensate for the nearly 30 percent loss in nuclear power generation incurred in the wake of the major earthquake that ravaged the country in 2011.
PPD Wins Award for Technology Development
ASAP Corporate Member Pharmaceutical Product Development, LLC (PPD), has been recognized by Scrip Intelligence with its 2012 award for Best Technological Development in Clinical Trials for deploying cutting-edge solutions advancing clinical research. PPD received the honor at the annual Scrip Awards ceremony Nov. 28, 2012, in London, marking the second consecutive year PPD was honored by the publication after receiving the 2011 Scrip Award for Best Contract Research Organization (CRO). “Winning this award is a testament to the people of PPD,” said David Simmons, chairman and CEO of PPD. “In today’s evolving health care model, CROs must be able to adapt to clients’ changing needs and proactively meet their challenges. PPD connects talented people and innovative solutions to exceed the needs of our biopharmaceutical industry clients, who are constantly seeking ways to increase productivity and efficiency.” “PPD were worthy winners of this award,” said Mike Ward, chief content officer for Datamonitor Healthcare and Scrip Intelligence. “Their PPD 3D technology has improved the cost-
effectiveness, speed, and quality of clinical trial training for the life sciences, and our judges were impressed by the novel use of this type of technology in clinical research, saying it has huge potential.”
Delta and Virgin Atlantic Forming Joint Venture
Delta Air Lines said it will buy almost half of Virgin Atlantic for $360 million as it seeks a bigger share of the lucrative New York-to-London travel market. Delta plans to form a joint venture with Virgin Atlantic, where the two airlines would share money from the flights operated under the partnership. In order to coordinate the schedules of the two airlines, they’ll need antitrust approval from U.S. and European regulators. If the plan is approved, Delta and Virgin Atlantic would continue to fly between the United States and the United Kingdom, as now. However, they would market the flights together and share the costs and profits. Delta said it expects to have 31 round-trip flights between the U.K. and North America on the busiest days, including nine round-trips a day between Heathrow and John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey. Delta is aiming to have the joint operation running by the end of 2013. Sir Richard Branson will still own more than half of Virgin Atlantic, which will continue to fly as a separate airline under its own name.
AstraZeneca and Isis Ally Against Cancer
ASAP Global Member AstraZeneca and Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., have announced a strategic alliance for the discovery and development of novel generation antisense therapeutics against five cancer targets, including a license to develop and commercialize ISISSTAT3Rx, a drug Isis is currently evaluating in an early clinical trial in patients 13
Collaborative Buzz with advanced lymphomas. Antisense therapies target the proteins involved in disease processes by destroying the RNA that is involved in creating these proteins. The Isis discovery platform develops specific therapies that bind to messenger RNA (mRNA) and inhibit the production of disease-causing proteins. “Isis’s antisense technology platform allows AstraZeneca to broaden our oncology research efforts beyond traditional drug discovery methods, while at the same time becoming more specific about how we target cancer,” said Susan Galbraith, head of the AstraZeneca Oncology Innovative Medicines Unit. “AstraZeneca’s expertise in oncology translational science and our global capabilities in development and commercialization of oncology products and Isis’s innovative approach to discovering novel medicines reflect a common goal of bringing new medicines to cancer patients.”
A CRO and CRA: Quintiles Partners on Clinical Trials
Tempe, Ariz.–based Clinical Research Advantage (CRA), a community-based network of clinical trial sites, has entered into a strategic agreement with ASAP Global Member Quintiles to facilitate a higher level of clinical trial participation with an emphasis on safety, improved study efficiencies, and quality data. CRA, which operates 38 sites across 17 geographic markets, is the first therapeutically aligned network of family medicine community-based sites selected by Quintiles for a strategic alliance. “Clinical Research Advantage impressed us with their high standards for quality, high patient enrollments, and exceptional study start-up abilities,” said Lindy Jones, senior vice president of integrated site services for Quintiles. “Many chronic conditions such as diabetes and heart disease are now managed in the community. It is imperative that these patient populations have the opportunity to participate in studies and be a part of the quest to develop new and better 14
medicines for conditions that have a significant impact on both individuals and society.”
General Motors and Peugeot Alliance Gets in Gear
PSA Peugeot Citroen and General Motors recently confirmed the signing of major agreements in the execution of a global strategic alliance. German authorities, meanwhile, have green-lighted the collaboration, according to Agence FrancePresse and other sources. As part of the alliance, GM agreed to transfer most of its logistics activities in Europe to Gefco, a wholly owned subsidiary of PSA Peugeot Citroen. The agreement, which comes into effect in 2013, will cover most of the logistics activities in Europe, including Russia, of Opel/Vauxhall, Chevrolet, and Cadillac. Projects that have received the go-ahead include a joint program to develop a new low-emissions city car platform for Europe and other regions, a joint project to produce a multipurpose van (MPV) for Opel and a compact crossover for Peugeot, and another that will develop small MPVs for Opel and Citroen. In addition, GM and PSA have freshly announced plans to jointly develop a new family of small four-cylinder gasoline engines using PSA’s existing EB motor as a basis. The two companies also say that they are going to explore collaborative possibilities in South America. The first vehicles resulting from the cooperation are expected to be launched in 2016.
Sanofi and Myriad in Multipartner Research Collaboration
Myriad Genetics announced in December that its wholly owned subsidiary Myriad RBM has entered into a research collaboration with ASAP Global Member Sanofi and the Population Health Research Institute (PHRI) at Hamilton Health Sciences and McMaster University. Through this collaboration, Myriad
RBM will perform protein biomarker research for the Outcome Reduction with Initial Glargine Intervention (ORIGIN) study, the world’s longest and largest randomized clinical trial in pre- and early diabetes. The relationship between the biomarker results and clinical outcomes will be analyzed by investigators at PHRI. As part of the agreement, Myriad RBM will analyze more than 8,000 serum samples collected in the ORIGIN study using its DiscoveryMAP 250+ quantitative immunoassay panel. Sanofi conceived of the application of Myriad RBM’s technology to ORIGIN with a goal of identifying biomarker profiles that may optimize treatment and improve patient care.
New Balance and Disney Run Together
New Balance and Walt Disney Parks & Resorts have announced a multiyear strategic alliance that includes exclusive footwear, running-specific initiatives, and cobranding opportunities. The alliance will bring New Balance’s athletic footwear to Disney’s vacation destinations and its sports business, according to a press release. As part of the collaboration, New Balance becomes the official athletic shoe of Walt Disney World Resort, Disneyland Resort, and ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. New Balance also becomes the official running shoe for runDisney race weekends and the official baseball shoe of amateur baseball events held at the sports complex. In addition, New Balance becomes the title sponsor of the track and field facility at the ESPN complex, home of the annual Walt Disney World Cross Country Classic and Disney’s Track & Field Spring Training for high school and collegiate teams. Future initiatives include the creation of maps for the running trails at Walt Disney World Resort and fitness programs for Disney resort guests interested in pursuing healthy options. For this alliance, New Balance has also Continued on page 55 Strategic Alliance Magazine
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Spanning the Globe Takeda Pharmaceuticals’ Alliance Management Practice Helps Bridge Continental Divides By Jon Lavietes
When Andy Hull (pictured above), head of global alliance management for Takeda Pharmaceuticals, is asked to summarize his company’s alliance management practice, two words come to mind—“globalization” and “innovation.” To the first point, just as the company’s leadership is spread across its Japan headquarters, its major U.S. operation just north of Chicago, and the Switzerlandbased offices of the former Nycomed, which was acquired by Takeda in 2011—Takeda’s chief medical and scientific officer and head of global development are based in the United States, while its chief commercial officer is based in Zurich—its core alliance management team manages alliances “of all shapes and sizes,” according to Hull, from these three geographic bases. Like most big pharmaceutical companies, Takeda’s alliance portfolio includes a variety of codevelopment and cocommercialization partnerships (and some that have evolved from the former to become the latter) that collectively span multiple countries and regions. Although the company’s roots are Japanese, Hull insisted the company functions globally in such a way that no one business culture dictates how business is conducted.
Takeda in a Flash Global pharmaceutical company based in Japan #1 in Japan, #12 globally—present in 70 markets worldwide Established formal strategic alliance management function in 2006 11-member global alliance management team —several other alliance management professionals at local/regional levels More than 30 business alliances driven by global alliance team 30 percent of $19.1 billion revenue in 2011 attributed to alliances
operating according to a business culture of any one country,” said Hull. Hull said the alliance management group started out small and exclusively in the United States at its inception, and then initially grew a bit to keep up with the growing number of partnerships in its portfolio. Over time, the alliance management function expanded to Japan and then to Europe, including Switzerland with the Nycomed acquisition. The team now manages alliances with partners around the globe.
“It’s truly more of a global com50 percent of pipeline attributed to alliances pany where the headquarters of As Takeda’s pipeline and revenue some of the important functions reside outside of [our] Japan stream evolved to become more reliant on strategic partner[headquarters]. The mindset has transitioned to a global [one]. ships, the importance of the practice’s responsibilities increased Culturally, and from a decision-making standpoint, we’re not with the sheer number of duties. Today, Takeda’s global alliance Quarter 1, 2013
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the Best alliance education Offerings under One umbrella ASAP’s new Education Provider Partner Program (EPPP) aggregates the consultant-based offerings, classroom/ workshop-style programs, and certification training exercises of the profession’s best trainers and mentors under one umbrella. through eppp, alliance professionals get: n One-stop shopping for professional development and certification training services n Access to trainers already vetted as the profession’s leading educators n A single place for those who want to augment their skill sets and those of their alliance teams eppp gives alliance management trainers and educators: n Built-in inroads into a community that can expand your business n Access to ASAP’s 2,500-plus Individual and Corporate Members n Marketing support to get your value proposition in front of emerging alliance management professionals Educators, obtain your eppp application today and get access to hundreds of rising alliance professionals. Looking to develop your mastery of the craft and/or get certified? Ensure yourself the best training available by securing a consultant, classroom, or workshop arrangement through eppp. Trainers and prospective trainees can contact pam goodell at pgoodell@strategic-alliances.org or +1-781-562-1630 ext. 202 for more information.
Education Provider Partner Program 960 Turnpike St, Canton MA 02021 USA Tel: +1-781-562-1630 strategic-alliances.org info@strategic-alliances.org
You are reading the Limited Edition of Strategic Alliance Magazine, the magazine of the Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals. The printed magazine is mailed free to all ASAP members and Sponsors and is also available as a paid subscription. The complete PDF is available to members by logging in to www.strategic-alliances.org For Membership and Sponsor information email membership@strategic-alliances.org or call +1-781-562-1630 ext. 200
Schneider Electric congratulates our Global Alliance Team for their achievements in alliance management. Congratulations to our finalists in: • Alliances for Corporate Social Responsibility • Innovative Alliance Best Practice Best of luck at the 2013 ASAP Alliance Excellence Awards!
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Making the Right Match There’s No One Way to Find an Ally, but a Few Broad Partner Selection Principles Help Companies You are reading the Limited Edition of Find Partner That “Fits” Strategic the Alliance Magazine, the magazine of the Association ofBy Strategic Alliance Professionals. Jon Lavietes
The printed magazine is mailed free to all In a perfectASAP world, companies in and anyis industry members and Sponsors also available would as a paid subscription. be able to tailor a broad template to select a new partner deemed The complete PDF is available to members by necessary to fulfill a critical organization goal—perhaps something logging in to www.strategic-alliances.org like the one developed Jeffrey Cummings, Ph.D., CA-AM, For by Membership and Sponsor information email membership@strategic-alliances.org associate professor at Loyola University of Maryland and or call +1-781-562-1630 ext. 200 part-time consultant for a variety of private industry projects.
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Strategic Alliance Magazine
You are reading the Limited Edition of Strategic Alliance Magazine, the magazine of the Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals. The printed magazine is mailed free to all ASAP members and Sponsors and is also available as a paid subscription. The complete PDF is available to members by logging in to www.strategic-alliances.org For Membership and Sponsor information email membership@strategic-alliances.org or call +1-781-562-1630 ext. 200
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You are reading the Limited Edition of Strategic Alliance Magazine, the magazine of the Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals. The printed magazine is mailed free to all ASAP members and Sponsors and is also available as a paid subscription. The complete PDF is available to members by logging in to www.strategic-alliances.org For Membership and Sponsor information email membership@strategic-alliances.org or call +1-781-562-1630 ext. 200
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Strategic Alliance Magazine
You are reading the Limited Edition of Strategic Alliance Magazine, the magazine of the Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals. The printed magazine is mailed free to all ASAP members and Sponsors and is also available as a paid subscription. The complete PDF is available to members by logging in to www.strategic-alliances.org For Membership and Sponsor information email membership@strategic-alliances.org or call +1-781-562-1630 ext. 200
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Portals, Platforms, and Points of Connection The Right Collaborative Technologies Can Advance Your Alliance or Partner Ecosystem By John DeWitt and Jon Lavietes
You know how people outside of the alliance management community commonly throw around the term “collaboration” so loosely? How the term gets applied to relationships and situations that hardly resemble true business collaboration as alliance management professionals see it? Well, a similar phenomenon is happening with technology products that aim to foster closer working relationships between people in different locations. Enter the phrase “collaboration tools” into a search engine and you will see references to everything from project management tools, meeting platforms, and video conferencing to Google Docs, largefile-delivery services, and even relatively antiquated tools like instant messaging (IM). 22
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As workplace technology has become increasingly sophisticated in recent years, some of these products and services naturally can help groups of people charged with managing an alliance to work with one another more efficiently and across organizational boundaries more seamlessly. Of course, in the same way that the number of truly collaborative business relationships is only a small fraction of how many partnerships are actually labeled as such, many “collaborative technologies” don’t necessarily apply to the craft. With that said, alliance teams are finding solutions that make it easier and more efficient to work hand-in-hand with other organizations and achieve mutual corporate objectives in a confusing and crowded marketplace.
Tech Solutions Facilitate Individual Alliance, Partner Ecosystem Success When Otsuka Pharmaceuticals and contract research organization (CRO) Covance Inc. formalized their strategic alliance in 2009, the companies began a search for an online portal that could serve as a communal workspace for the organizations and help streamline the reams of information common for an industry as highly regulated as pharmaceuticals. “The feedback we had heard [from the portal vendors] was this was the first time they were building a portal that would be shared by two different companies. It was a novel concept for the [technology] providers,” said Karen Graham, CAAM, senior director of alliance management at Covance. A year and a half later, a Microsoft SharePoint–based application was launched to 1,000 individuals with alliance responsibility across both companies. Today, approximately 1,500 employees are sharing documents through links to the portal, and they are conditioned to check the Web application first before asking someone about the whereabouts of important information.
Today, approximately 1,500 employees are sharing documents through links to the OtsukaCovance portal, and they are conditioned to check the Web application first before asking someone about the whereabouts of important information. “It has been the best thing we’ve done in this whole entire partnership. It’s the tool everyone has come to depend on,” said Debbie Profit, associate director of alliance management at Otsuka Pharmaceuticals. “It has significantly increased transparency. All of our governance teams—our senior leadership on both sides—stressed they wanted to provide complete transparency on decisions— what was occurring on governance teams, agendas, outcomes, actions accessible to everyone within the partnership. That was one real positive and important aspect [of the portal].” In addition to assisting with individual partnerships, technologies are emerging to specifically manage entire portfolios and partner networks. Turkey’s leading communications and technology company Turkcell developed its own Quarter 1, 2013
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Strategic Alliance Magazine
You are reading the Limited Edition of Strategic Alliance Magazine, the magazine of the Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals. The printed magazine is mailed free to all ASAP members and Sponsors and is also available as a paid subscription. The complete PDF is available to members by logging in to www.strategic-alliances.org For Membership and Sponsor information email membership@strategic-alliances.org or call +1-781-562-1630 ext. 200
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Strange Bedfellows
Across Industries, Companies, and Cultures, New Economic Imperatives and Changing Industry Dynamics Are Driving the Formation of Unusual Alliances By Michael Burke
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As seasoned alliance veterans know, it’s hard enough to manage an alliance between two companies in the same sector—they may share an understanding of industry and market conditions and a basic set of assumptions about the space they’re operating in, but they still can have very different company cultures, structures, sizes, and approaches to alliances and the way they do business overall. But what happens when companies from different industries that don’t normally cross paths step outside their comfort zones to combine efforts on a novel product or service? Or when companies that are ostensibly in the same space but hail from two wildly divergent national cultures seek to partner? The challenges can increase almost exponentially. As alliance professionals are also aware, alliances can vary radically in character and flavor, each with its own peculiarities. The same is true of unusual or novel partnerships—the landscape may look very different depending on which industries we look at, the types of partners involved, the clash of cultures, and the degree of experience each partner has with alliances.
Biopharma Meets Hardware: Outcomes for a Price In the biopharmaceutical world, cross-industry alliances are still “fairly recent,” according to Hans-Peter Frank, CA-AM, head of alliance management for patient franchises at ASAP Global Member Novartis. Until about three to five years ago, he said, “pharma providers [were in] a transactional-based business, a ‘pill for a price’—now it’s ‘outcomes for a price.’ “The main drivers of nontraditional relationships [in biopharma] are three things,” Frank explained. “One, untouched opportunities, combining technologies with services and products for additional revenue stream. Two, requests from payers—health organizations— for proven health outcomes; you need to have monitoring devices, [in other words] technology, and these are outside the existing remits of pharma companies. Three, price pressures, around the world, on all health systems. By implementing these new ideas, we can better manage costs and manage health care. This is the way the industry moves more and more.” One such alliance Novartis has is with Proteus Digital Health. The two companies have partnered to produce a chip that goes into a pill; once ingested, the chip sends signals to a patch on the skin of diabetes patients, for example, transmitting heart rate, temperature, and other vital signs. Novartis and Proteus are working on a similar technology for transplant patients that should cut down on hospitalization times, shifting the scene of recovery to the home. It’s a great idea—but managing such a project from idea to development to market is anything but easy. Combining a pharma company with a hardware or software company presents its own challenges, as each has very different notions of confidentiality, intellectual Quarter 1, 2013
property, disease or product exclusivity, and product life cycles. And it’s not only that. “The cultural clashes are tremendous,” Frank acknowledged. “For the first three months I was just trying to build trust between the companies. It’s hard to bring two different cultures together—it’s one third of my work here, trying to orchestrate and facilitate the different cultures. I always say I’m the guy with the hottest sneakers in the organization. My legwork is to satisfy a whole group of stakeholders internally, and my counterpart is doing the same at the other company. To make this happen I have to put on my sneakers and make [people] buy in to these novel approaches. One big learning is, [it’s better to] overcommunicate. One of my tasks is to inform senior management on a constant basis, so they know where the money is going; it’s an important part of the whole equation.” As at many companies, these nontraditional, cross-industry partnerships are now becoming part of the strategic thinking at Novartis.
“The cultural clashes are tremendous,” Frank acknowledged. “It’s hard to bring two different cultures together. My legwork is to satisfy a whole group of stakeholders internally, and my counterpart is doing the same at the other company.” “We do very educated bets,” Frank said. “We don’t do too many, but the educated bets we take very seriously. It starts out of a tactical decision, and it’s all over the company. The strategic content is evolving at the moment, but there are groups who are working on this topic. We have dedicated people looking at this and trying to develop it, and I am one of those people. Five years ago we were just working on one specific project—if it works, fine, if it fails, OK. Now it’s seven or eight projects, in different disease areas, all with alternative partner structures. The strategy is evolving but not defined so far. The company is in a learning curve.”
Design Flaws and Odd Couples
John Buckingham, CSAP, founder of Buckingham Alliance Partners, a consultant and alliance expert with long experience in the biopharma realm, described an alliance some years ago between Johnson & Johnson (Buckingham’s former employer) and the 27
You are reading the Limited Edition of Strategic Alliance Magazine, the magazine of the Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals. The printed magazine is mailed free to all ASAP members and Sponsors and is also available as a paid subscription. The complete PDF is available to members by logging in to www.strategic-alliances.org For Membership and Sponsor information email membership@strategic-alliances.org or call +1-781-562-1630 ext. 200
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You are reading the Limited Edition of Strategic Alliance Magazine, the magazine of the Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals. The printed magazine is mailed free to all ASAP members and Sponsors and is also available as a paid subscription. The complete PDF is available to members by logging in to www.strategic-alliances.org For Membership and Sponsor information email membership@strategic-alliances.org or call +1-781-562-1630 ext. 200
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strategic alliance magazine | 2013 Global ALLIANCE Summit Preview
Leadership. Performance.Value. It’s Sunny Skies for the 2013 ASAP Global Alliance Summit and the Alliance Management Profession in Orlando By Michael Burke
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strategic alliance magazine | 2013 Global ALLIANCE Summit Preview Mickey, Minnie, and...Alliance Management? Yes, as a matter of fact. Orlando, Fla., certainly conjures up visions of Disney’s Magic Kingdom, as well as Epcot, Universal, and Sea World, with a few palm trees, lakes, and sun-drenched golf courses thrown in for good measure. Orlando is all of those—but in early March the central Florida city will also play host to the world’s largest and most prestigious annual gathering of alliance management professionals: the 2013 ASAP Global Alliance Summit. The Global Alliance Summit has grown steadily over the years. Last year’s Summit, held in Las Vegas, attracted nearly 350 alliance professionals, executives, consultants, and thought leaders, shattering the event’s previous attendance records. The 2013 Summit, to be held March 3–7 at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center, is on track to draw at least as well and promises to be the biggest, best, most informative, and fruitful Summit ever. Not to mention fun! This year’s Summit will feature all the great content and valuable hands-on skill-building opportunities that ASAP’s annual conference has always been known for—plus all-new tracks, preconference workshops, coaching and mentoring, outstanding networking opportunities, and maybe a few surprises. If you’re attending—and you should (see the end of this article for registration information)— you can expect insightful seminars, panels, and workshops covering the most critical issues alliance professionals face today. In addition, you can: 1) advance your career by taking the CSAP certification exam, 2) recognize and celebrate the profession’s greatest achievements and leaders at the ASAP Alliance Excellence Awards Dinner, and 3) network with the profession’s best and brightest practitioners and thought leaders or simply say hello to colleagues and old friends (and make some new ones). (While you’re at it, come and meet the ASAP staff and ASAP Media/Strategic Alliance Magazine editors too!)
The “Before” Party and the Opening Among the events taking place before the official start of the Summit, on Sunday, March 3, there will be an “Early Arrival Meet Up” in the evening. Monday, March 4, will see both CA-AM and CSAP test preparation workshops, as well as a half-day workshop, “Better by Design: Superior Alliance Performance Through Purposeful Structuring and Governance,” led by Ard-Pieter de Man of VU University Amsterdam and Dave Luvison of the Keller Graduate School of Management, DeVry University, and Misty Creek Enterprises. And for the second year in a row there will be an opening reception Quarter 1, 2013
for the Alliance Management Resource Center (AMRC) on Monday evening. On Tuesday, March 5, the ASAP Global Alliance Summit officially begins. The keynote speaker this year will be Alex Counts, founder, president, and CEO of the Grameen Foundation, an international humanitarian organization that works to alleviate poverty by providing loans and entrepreneurial opportunities to people in developing countries (see sidebar). The Opening General Session will also feature a presentation by Steve Steinhilber of Cisco, “The Revolution Will Be Collaborative: How Alliance Models Must Evolve to Compete in a Fast-Changing World.” Steinhilber, author of Strategic Alliances: Three Ways to Make Them Work, will share his many alliance insights from the leading edge where technology and collaboration meet.
Tuesday: Three Tracks, Many Perspectives Tuesday afternoon’s breakout sessions will be divided among three tracks: High-Tech, Growing Leadership, and Alliances and the C-Suite. Among the highlights in High-Tech: an inside look at the decade-long HP-Microsoft alliance by industry veterans Jack Baratta and Lisa Slim of Hewlett-Packard, along with a session on go-to-market alliances led by Norma Watenpaugh of Phoenix Consulting Group, a presentation on alliance sales execution by Brett Wells of CapGemini, and an assessment of the impact of disruptive technologies on strategic and operational fit by Phil Hogg of Moneris Solutions.
In the Growing Leadership track, returning speaker Christopher Elliott of PeopleForce Pty Ltd will present “The Collaborative Leader: New Leadership Skills for a Connected, Collaborative Future.” Elliott will discuss the implications of “cross-boundary” leadership and the skills alliance leaders will need to move their alliances forward in this more connected, more alliance-imperative future. Also in this track, Parth Amin of Varian Medical Systems will examine the role alliance managers can play in the contract definition and negotiation process, Joan Meltzer of IBM and Christine Carberry MARCH 3-7, 2013 ORLANDO of EnVivo Pharmaceuticals will discuss “What Leadership.Performance.Value. It Really Takes to Be an Alliance Leader,” and
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STRATEGIC ALLIANCE MAGAZINE | 2013 gLOBaL aLLIaNce SuMMIt prevIew Scott Kruglewicz of Deloitte Consulting LLP and Charles H. Green, CEO of Trusted Advisor Associates, will look at alliance leaders as role models and bearers of trust.
to “Pump It Up!: Putting More Muscle into the Flabby Alliances in Your Portfolio,” led by R. Lynn Richard of Unisys. Just how do longlived alliances get “flabby”? Well, imagine the governance committees on muscle relaxers and the balanced scorecard metrics suddenly dripping out of the PowerPoint presentations like something out of Salvador Dalí. (OK, that’s just a metaphor—but you get the idea. Don’t let this happen to your alliance!) Nancy Breiman of IBM, meanwhile, in “Where the Rubber Meets the Road,” will look at how to leverage competitive intelligence to drive joint sales and alliance results, while Manoj Bhatia of Cisco will examine channel management in the small and medium business (SMB) space, and Mark Ballinger and Darren Cassidy of Xerox will discuss the transformation of the printer industry from a product-selling environment to a managed services business that is heavily dependent on alliances. This track brings great content on steroids!
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Alliances and the C-Suite is a perennial topic of discussion and concern among alliance managers who are looking to make a case to the higher-ups for additional resources and influence for the alliance function. So naturally, this track will feature “Show Me the Money!: Demonstrating Alliance Management’s Key Strategic Role to the C-Suite,” an interactive roundtable discussion led by Jan Twombly and Jeff Shuman of The Rhythm of Business, with other participants still to be confirmed. Other sessions include a look at customer executive engagement programs led by Leona Helverson of Verizon, and a presentation on using alliance health checks to engage senior leadership by Christopher Scirrotto and Laura Millet, both of Sanofi Pasteur.
Awards
Did I mention networking opportunities? There’s another one Tuesday night—the Summit’s official Welcome Reception. No excuse not to be social—and besides, you might meet your future potential partner or employer over a glass of Chardonnay!
Wednesday Morning: Rise and Shine On Wednesday, March 6, the morning breakout sessions are themselves broken out into three tracks: this time, Collaborative Networks and Ecosystems, Developing the Collaborative Muscle, and Developing the Capability. In the Collaborative Networks and Ecosystems track, presenters will take a close look at a rising trend: multipartner, multi-industry alliances and alliance ecosystems. Christophe Melle of Philips won’t be steering you sideways with his session “Getting Horizontal: Building Alliance Ecosystems with Partners from Different Industries,” while Hans-Peter Frank and Philippe Lievre of Novartis will discuss “Collaboration Outside the Comfort Zone: Multipartner, Multi-Industry Collaborative Networks.” Pere Huguet of Schneider Electric and Xavier Galliot of Rexel will showcase their forward-looking expertise in sustainable development alliances, while in “Long Strange Trip: Lessons Learned from a Complex, Multipartner Cloud Service Alliance,” a constellation of high-tech pros from Xerox, Cisco, EMC, and CA Technologies will tell you whether 1 + 1 actually does equal 3—or whether the math in a more complex collaboration is of a higher order altogether.
In the Developing the Capability track, Subhojit Roye of Infosys will check your security clearance before taking you into the “Alliance Situation Room,” where as any good alliance pro knows you need to “stay cool and keep smiling,” even when it feels like you’re in the hot seat. Donna Peek of SAS Institute will reveal some of the secrets of “Building Your Dream Team” of world-class alliance managers (hint: prescriptions include a healthy dose of ASAP certifications and best practices!). In a similar vein, Gerry Dehkes and David Erlenborn of KPMG demonstrate how to set up an alliance management function from scratch, while Stu Kliman of Vantage Partners goes Elizabeth Barrett Browning on us with “How Do Alliance Management Groups Add Value?: Let’s Count the Ways.”
Wednesday Afternoon Delight After lunch on Wednesday, another trio of tracks is on the agenda: Biopharma, Creating a Culture of Excellence, and Alliance Management Tools.
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Want to know the “next big thing” in Biopharma? It just might be alliances for targeted drug delivery, and it’s the subject of a presentation by Brenda K. Schultz of Medtronic and Mark Thomas of Eli Lilly. One of our profession’s ageold challenges is to achieve working harmony in alliances between companies with clashing cultures—a topic covered by Andrea Nicholson of Merck Serono in “Complementary Opposites: Lessons from the Merck Serono/Dr. Reddy’s Biosimilars Alliance.” And speaking of opposites, it’s hard to resist “Does Size Matter?,” a look at the benefits to be reaped from smallStrategic alliance Magazine
STRATEGIC ALLIANCE MAGAZINE | 2013 gLOBaL aLLIaNce SuMMIt prevIew company/large-company alliances, presented by Pannie Trifillis of PTC Therapeutics. Finally, a panel including Brooke Paige of 7ContinentsCollaboration, Annlouise Goodermuth of Sanofi, and others will present “Collaboration Confidential: What We Wish Big Pharma Knew About Partnering with Academic Medical Centers.” In the Creating a Culture of Excellence track, Andrew Masland of NEC and Judy Mirkin of Bridge Partners Consulting will look at cultural differences between alliance partners in “Across the Great Divide.” In “What’s My Motivation?,” Anoop Nathwani of Nokia will analyze how unexamined biases and differing motivations can undermine alliance success. Meanwhile, Professor Jeffrey Cummings of Loyola University, Maryland, and Per Lundmark, founder of iFACTS AB, will show how “Lean (If Not Mean) Governance” can lead to improved performance in alliance portfolios. The importance of Alliance Management Tools and their role in alliance success has been demonstrated by, among other sources, The State of Alliance Management: Past, Present, Future (The Fourth State of Alliance Management Study). The tools covered in this last track on Wednesday range from partner listening programs to storytelling to the use of social media and more. In “Voice of the Partner: Can You Hear Me Now?,” Seema Kohli of NetApp and Ramesh Subramaniam of Alliancesphere discuss how having an effective partner listening program for your alliances can be a major differentiator, giving valuable feedback on the customer’s needs and wants. Kim Tremblay and Candice Kyzer of Schneider Electric show how the appropriate use of social media can help promulgate and advance alliance culture in “What’s the Buzz?” Trisha Griffin-Carty of Griffin-Carty Communications reprises a popular presentation in “What’s Your Story?: Delivering Complex Messages Simply and Clearly,” showing how alliance pros can craft and leverage stories to communicate effectively with the stakeholders they need to influence most, both internally and across partner organizations (see “The Art of Storytelling” on page 46). And, in “The Hardest Job: Managing the Internal Alliance Using the ‘Apostle Loyalty’ Model,” Tom Halle of Savvis explains the use of a tool that can help alliance managers gain alignment and support for their efforts. Wednesday will end with two ever-popular Summit evening events: the Alliance Excellence Awards Recognition Dinner. Be sure to be there and find out if any of your colleagues or partners won! Continued on page 45 Quarter 1, 2013
Partnering Against Poverty Summit Keynote Speaker Alex Counts’s Grameen Foundation Uses Business Principles—and Alliances Great and Small—to Bring Economic Opportunity to People in Developing Countries For most alliance managers, alliances are “strictly business”: they’re about bringing disparate partners and stakeholders together to add value on a continuing basis and enhance the bottom line. As one alliance leader said at a recent ASAP event, describing the triage process of evaluating the results of novel, even experimental partnerships: “We’re not a charity.” But what about the use of alliances to give poor people new and often undreamed-of business opportunities of their own? That’s precisely the work of the Grameen Foundation, headed by Alex Counts, who will be the keynote speaker at the opening plenary of ASAP’s 2013 Global Alliance Summit in Orlando. So is Grameen a charity? Is it a business? According to Counts, it’s both, and neither.
A Hybrid in a Gray Area “People tend to create this dichotomy—either something is a cutthroat business trying to create profit, with no humanitarian angles to it, or it’s a charity doing humanitarian work, with no relation to business [other than] maybe trying to clean up some problems business can’t address or has caused,” said Counts. “Organizations like Grameen Foundation operate in a vibrant kind of gray area—people say, ‘Is it charity or is it business?’ I say it’s kind of a hybrid.” This “hybrid” organization does great work across the globe, using business principles—and networks of local alliances in many countries—to help lift local people out of poverty by giving them tools, information, and entrepreneurial opportunities to which they wouldn’t otherwise have access. Grameen Foundation was founded by a group inspired by the work of Grameen Bank, started by Professor Muhammad Yunus, corecipient of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. Counts, who was mentored and trained by Yunus himself—and authored a 2008 book on Yunus’s work called Small Loans, Big Dreams—has been the Grameen Foundation’s founding president and CEO since 1997, after having worked in the microfinance and poverty reduction areas for 10 years. “What we’re about is innovation to solve social problems on a large scale, in the context of holding ourselves accountable to actually move the dial on the problem of poverty,” Counts explained. “We focused for 15 years on scaling up and improving an innovation called microfinance: designing a banking system that serves the needs of the poorest two to three billion people in the world, so they can take charge of their own economic lives.”
From Loans to Phones Among the many successful efforts Grameen Foundation has been involved in was a project done with Citibank and many local microfinance organizations to guarantee an eventual $200 million in microloans to Continued over… 33
STRATEGIC ALLIANCE MAGAZINE | 2013 gLOBaL aLLIaNce SuMMIt prevIew
people in countries including India, Tunisia, Bolivia, Pakistan, and the Philippines. Another major effort began originally in Bangladesh with Grameen Phone, an affiliate of Grameen Bank that was licensed as a mobile phone operator in that country. That project allowed some 300,000 women to operate mobile pay phones in their villages—a unique and much-needed business opportunity for many, prior to the advent of ubiquitous cell phones. After its successful run in Bangladesh, the effort was essentially duplicated in Uganda and later Rwanda in concert with MTN, Africa’s largest telecom, as well as a number of local microfinance groups.
it business or charity? I don’t understand if you say it’s both.’ You’re going to run into people who just don’t get it and will push back. It can come from our side too—people who feel we’re going into ‘business mode,’ and need to get back to basics. Lastly, there are issues of taxation and public policy that aren’t quite there yet, when you’re doing things in these hybrid ways. Sometimes we have trouble getting an audience with a government—sometimes our partners can, but they wonder if they want to use their political capital for this strange combination of business and charity that some of them didn’t totally get to begin with. Each partnership has its own peculiarities.”
What unites Grameen’s various activities is a sensitivity to local conditions, both challenges and opportunities; a commitment to eradicate poverty by improving the economic livelihoods of people in developing nations; a willingness and ability to partner with both local organizations and large corporations; and an attention to accountability and metrics, so that, as Counts put it, “you’re darn sure the things you’re doing are working, not just feel-good.”
When he spoke with ASAP Media in December, just before the holidays, Counts hadn’t quite decided what his message would be to the hundreds of alliance professionals gathered at the ASAP Global Alliance Summit in Orlando. But we can be sure he’ll highlight the way the Grameen Foundation has leveraged networks of partnerships, local organizations and expertise, and business principles and big-corporation funding to help hundreds of thousands of people in the developing world get a leg up economically.
The partnership or alliance aspect of Grameen Foundation’s work is essential to its success. “Partnerships are absolutely necessary, because most organizations, at their core, are either a business or humanitarian nonprofit,” said Counts. “For the most part, if you’re trying to solve a social problem using business principles and a business approach, you’ll need at least two parties—one in one domain, one in another—at a bare minimum. That’s going to be the case for a long time until there’s a critical mass of hybrid organizations. Until then, alliances are going to be critical.”
Partnering Pitfalls Of course, as all alliance professionals know, with any alliance comes a host of challenges. “We’ve been able to deal with it but it’s rarely easy,” Counts acknowledged. “It’s particularly acute when you’re dealing with things that don’t fit into the old paradigms. Initially we look for a large partner to cocreate a solution so that if it works we’d bring it to a wide scale. In our work, we’ve had the great fortune of working with organizations like Google, Citibank, MTN, etc. For a $20 million humanitarian organization dealing with billion-dollar companies that are used to throwing their weight around, it’s sometimes a bit of a challenge. With tiny companies it might be easier, but then they’re not able to take what they’re doing and bring it to scale. “A lot of times when we work with an organization, you have an internal champion [there], and when they move on, [often] we’re vulnerable. Being a much smaller organization, we don’t always have access to top executives. And there’s a cultural issue: to some people this hybrid of business and humanitarian work is exciting. But some people are from the old school: ‘Is 34
Reengineering Business Globally, from the Ground Up “Ultimately most businesses have been developed and scaled around how to do business with the richest one to two billion people in the world,” Counts said. “Margins often get really tight for those only serving a small slice of humanity. We’re trying to get a handle on how to reengineer business to be relevant to the other four to five billion people in the world. To do this requires a deep understanding of what goes on at the base of the pyramid, and an accelerator or differentiator for businesses wanting to work [there].” That “deep understanding” is powered by the flow of information—often a key issue in poorer communities, which lack access to accurate and real-time information as they lack so much else. “If you’re a brewery in Kampala, you need barley,” Counts explained by way of example. “Without information, you’re limited to doing business with a few large-scale producers of barley. But if someone has the information, you can see them as a potential business partner. That’s precisely what we’re doing in Uganda. With efficiencies of large-scale production, a large distributed network of low-income people, and a lower cost of production, you benefit economically, and there are new potential business partners you didn’t have before. If companies want to go down that route and serve the whole economic pyramid, working with humanitarian organizations can get them there faster than if they created it from scratch by themselves.” —Michael Burke Strategic alliance Magazine
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Steady as She Goes How Focus, Discipline Help an Alliance Stay on Course By david S. thompson, CA-AM, and Steven e. twait, CSAP
Between the “Start-up” and “wind-down” phases, the “Steady State” can last decades in some partnerships. While the term “Steady State” implies a comfortable period in which everything is running along smoothly, that same period in the context of an alliance can prove to be anything but relaxed. In fact, managing an alliance during its Steady State could be inserted into the pilot’s adage that describes flying a plane as hours of mild boredom interrupted by moments of sheer terror.
Governance design part III. The third in a four-part series on alliance governance, which examines the “Steady State” phase of an alliance. In between the “Start-up” and “Wind-down” phases, the “Steady State” can last decades in some partnerships. At certain times, this stage of an alliance can be anything but smooth. Quarter 1, 2013
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Team members have become acquainted, various groups have collaborated for a period of time, and what we might call the culture of the alliance has begun to take shape. Standard processes and procedures have been established and implemented at various levels of efficiency and effectiveness.
FIGURE 1: NATURE OF ALLIANCE WORK
STEADY STATE
Human Risk
Business Risk
Legal Uncertainties
On/offboarding at all levels (team and leadership) VOA™ implementation and interventions Dealing with personnel performance issues at all alliance levels Reputation for being a fair/unfair partner is established
Execution of plans by crisis management team (process/internal/external) Governance assessment and evolution (structure will likely change several times over life of alliance) Trajectory of alliance performance is established Managing strategic changes experienced by each company (e.g., tensions created by downsizing, restructuring, change of control, etc.)
Audit preparation Contract amendment negotiations/processing Potential contract disputes/ mediation/arbitration Managing changes due to companies’evolving strategy and tactics
These risk factors present themselves during the Steady State phase because of the time period and nature of the work involved. Personnel turnover, performance issues, and contract amendment negotiations, for example, are developments we can expect to see. Other events, such as major changes at one or both partner companies or a crisis precipitated by negative study results or government action, might not be predictable but must be prepared for nevertheless. It is helpful to recognize that these factors all present themselves within the overall flow of the Steady State. While several dynamics are at work during this phase, the first and most obvious to alliance participants is the formation of an alliance rhythm (see Figure 1.) 36
Discontinuation Activities
Manufacturing Issue
In previous issues of Strategic Alliance Magazine, we have framed potential problems in three categories: human risk, business risk, and legal uncertainties. Issues that arise during the Steady State follow this same pattern, as you can see in the following excerpt from our Alliance Risk Matrix:
CAPACITY
Concentrate on High-Value Activities in the Steady State
FDA Action
UNFORESEEN ALLIANCE WORK
Contract Re-Neg.
For the purposes of this article, we’ll bring ourselves back to earth and define Steady State as the time between Start-up and Wind-down, which in many alliances can run for years and sometimes even decades. Because this much ground is difficult to cover—in one article as well as in one’s career—we’ll focus on a few major concepts that we hope alliance managers at all levels can use to help steer their alliances safely down the long and winding road of the Steady State stage.
Start-up Activities
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Fundamental OAM Activities (Agenda, Alignment, Governance)
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From Figure 1 it is easy to visualize this rhythm, with the blue lines representing the Start-up and Wind-down of an alliance and the red spikes representing unforeseen alliance work. Typically the spikes are the result of negative developments, and the alliance manager must focus squarely on managing any resulting crisis. The second dynamic is the nearly imperceptible drift in three areas: operational rigor, strategic focus, and cultural openness between the companies. One could liken this concept to the drift that takes place in the Earth’s continental plates—no one really notices a change until the morning everyone is awoken by an earthquake. In alliance management, if the strategic focus of the two companies drifts apart over time, one partner might begin acting in odd ways and the other partner might be in for a rude awakening. The 3-D Fit tool referenced in our last article is a great tool to identify and combat this drift. For the purposes of this article we will focus primarily on the rhythm of an alliance during the Steady State and the approaches and actions that are needed to help keep that rhythm sound and healthy. (While we briefly discuss the slow, difficult-to-spot drift later in this piece, it will be covered in greater detail in a future article.) Taken together, these spikes and drifts illustrated in Figure 1 provide the backdrop—and the impetus—for the actions alliance managers need to take to keep a partnership on track and moving forward. Strategic alliance Magazine
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Before we move on to discuss examples in each category, it is important to recall and emphasize an overarching principle of alliance management: Whether an alliance manager is addressing one of the spikes or the general tendency of relationships to drift, it is essential to focus on improving the areas in the alliance’s value chain that matter most. As with any process, value is not created or destroyed equally in all of the interactions and decisions that affect value in an alliance. The best alliance managers identify the value inflection points early and spend a great deal of time making sure that these processes and events run smoothly and that decisions are made in a timely and effective manner. The following sections describe key inflection points that can, if managed well, yield superior value for the alliance.
I. The First Governance Meeting Because the first governance meeting will establish the process and meeting rituals for all future governance meetings, proper planning and execution are extremely important. In the weeks before the meeting, be sure to set the appropriate expectations regarding meeting tone, discipline, and effective follow-up. Establishing this foundation should always be undertaken with the full involvement and commitment of each partner. The meeting agenda should be challenging but achievable and agreed upon well in advance. Avoid walk-in topics if at all possible, and plan for sufficient breaks. “The mind cannot absorb what the backside cannot endure”—a phrase dating to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh—should be your watchwords. Agenda topics should be a good mix of decisions that must be made by the governing body with a healthy dash of information sharing. Good pre-reads sent out well in advance will go a long way toward making the meeting more productive. Prior to this first meeting, gather all participants from your side of the alliance and make sure that everyone is on board with the agenda and well versed in the various topics. Determine who will be the “voice” for each of the topics to address any potential questions or objections that might be raised by the partner. If possible, plan for your governance meeting to be conducted over two days. Ideally you can begin the meeting the afternoon of the first day, have dinner together that night, and continue the next morning, concluding around noon for lunch. Quarter1,1,2013 Quarter 2013
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This type of meeting schedule accomplishes several important purposes. First, it allows time for subgroups to meet face-to-face before or after the meeting. Second, it allows a dinner to be shared and provides a more informal setting to solve issues that may have arisen during the first day. Third, if the meeting is structured appropriately, the most difficult topic will be discussed at the end of the first day, allowing for further discussion over dinner, a night to sleep on it, and a continuation of the discussion in the morning. Fourth, a shared meal again at lunch allows for a pleasant end to the meeting. If the agenda is structured well, the topics that are addressed at the end of the meeting will be simple ones that the two parties can agree upon. In musical notation, this meeting flow would form a crescendo and decrescendo, starting soft and slow, building to a climax, and ending soft and slow. In addition to an agenda, we recommend using a meeting-minute template that will enable future alliance participants to easily go back and see how and why decisions were made. We have found that a best practice in managing governance meetings is to document the decisions or action items at the end of each topic during the meeting. Ask the participants—the committee cochairs in particular—for agreement on the exact wording of decisions and action items, with the aim of avoiding disagreements in the future. Finally, be a student of body language. If the members of the governance body that you are facilitating appear tired, take a break. If a governance team member is upset and wants to ask a question, pause and welcome it. Always help your governance team make the most of their time together. Setting a strong example of what all governance meetings should look like reduces business risk, human risk, and legal uncertainties.
II. The First Dispute The first dispute is likely to happen shortly after deal signing. It is important that the experience be kept as positive as possible. It is completely natural that two parties can have differing views on any particular subject. Be respectful of
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Since 1999, Lilly’s Integrated Alliance Management professionals have helped companies maximize the value of partnered assets. With strong roots in governance and relationship management, we excel at problem solving and value-chain integration at all stages of discovery, development, and commercialization.
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As an organization and as individuals, we are committed to the success of every partnership we manage. By staying true to mutual goals—and by doing everything necessary to achieve them—we help partners realize the value inherent in every strategic alliance.
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those views. Assume innocence as to the motives underlying the dispute. Before locking into a hard position, be patient and wait for the facts to come in. Be gracious, even if your partner is not. Keep in mind the adage to “choose your words carefully, as you may have to eat them later.” If this is starting to sound like your grandmother’s advice— well, she was right! If the first dispute is handled well, it increases the likelihood that future disputes also will be settled successfully. Once you’ve reached a resolution, make sure that the dispute is appropriately documented. If the topic warrants, have the documents reviewed by both your legal department and your partners. Produce one set of documents that both parties agree captures the essence of the dispute. These documents might be used in the future as pre-reads for the escalation process, and often in the process of producing these joint documents the disputing parties find they have resolved the disagreement and no further work is needed. The first dispute is the perfect opportunity to set the right tone and continue to reduce business and human risk, and legal uncertainties.
Consider and Manage the Consequences When things go badly, one thing is certain: having a crisis management process already in place will pay for itself many times over. The establishment of an alliance crisis management team should include two parts. First, each company should have its own crisis management team in place for the alliance. Second, there should be a joint crisis management process in place that clearly ties each individual company’s processes together. The group should meet—at least over the phone—to go over the process. There should be an agreedupon “communication tree” that can be used to rapidly bring the appropriate people together. Since crises do not typically limit themselves to standard working hours, detailed contact information will need to be exchanged by members of the crisis unit. A member of our Office of Alliance Management, David Herrin, is also a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve. He has served with honor and has been awarded a Bronze Star Medal. During one of our many conversations about leadership and the characteristics that make a leader great, he mentioned an ability that we believe is inherent in great alliance leaders. He described the attributes of someone who can foresee the first-order, second-order, and third-order consequences of an action and can modify his or her behavior to avoid the negative aspects of these consequences. Here Quarter 1, 2013
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is an example of thinking through these consequences in an alliance situation: A senior governance member is upset with a partner’s lack of responsiveness to reviewing and approving press releases. He decides to “teach the partner a lesson” by sending a letter to the other company’s CEO, skipping the escalation process as outlined in the contract. It is the senior member’s hope that this embarrassment will speed up the process. In that letter the senior governance leader cites the contractual language that specifies the time allotted for certain activities and alludes to this as being a “technical breach of the contract.” – First-order consequence: The CEO is both embarrassed and upset by the letter and calls his staff in to discuss the allegations. – Second-order consequence: During the course of the follow-up meeting, the CEO learns that the senior governance leader’s company has been late making payments associated with their alliance, also in violation of the contract. – Third-order consequence: The CEO responds to the senior governance leader, first thanking him for the letter and then admonishing him for not following the contract’s escalation process. A few weeks later the senior governance leader’s company receives a bill for the penalties associated with the late payments. The ability to think through the first-, second-, and third-order consequences is a good first step in demonstrating solid judgment and the acumen that will ultimately reduce business and human risks and legal uncertainties.
III. Alliance Drift As we mentioned earlier, strategic drift, operational drift, and cultural drift are continuously unfolding during the life cycle of an alliance. And while drift in each of these areas is related, the consequences of each unfold at different times and rates. Operational drift, for example, usually happens more quickly than strategic drift, and strategic drift happens more rapidly than cultural drift. In the case of an alliance, the first sign of a strategic shift is likely to be seen in the operations of the partner company. Operational issues such
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There Are Now More Ways to Earn CA-AM and CSAP Certification Points Than Ever! aSap members have more avenues to secure and register qualification points toward CA-AM renewal or CSAP exam eligibility. Unveiled on July 1, our new point system provides 15 categories for earning points spread across four larger groupings: Presentations (ASAP conferences, chapter events, and webinars as well as approved ASAP and non-ASAP courses) n Writing (Member Resource Library, Strategic Alliance Magazine, Best Practices Bulletin, or other approved publication) n Attendance/Participation (ASAP conferences, chapter events, and webinars as well as approved ASAP courses and pre-approved continuing education programs) n Service to ASAP (chapter leadership, Board/special task force/committee membership) n
To review the new certification point categories in greater detail, go to the Renewals & Eligibility page under the Career Building section of www.strategic-alliances.org. Renewing your certification is more than just keeping up a title; it ensures continued success in your practice and the advancement of your career. For questions about submitting points under the new system, please contact ASAP’s Certification Coordinator, Jennifer Silver, at 781-562-1630 ext. 205 or jsilver@strategic-alliances.org. 40
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as budget cuts, leadership turnover, or team restructuring may occur well in advance of less widely known corporate strategic shifts. During the Steady State phase, alliance managers should pay careful attention to the operational dynamics between the partnered companies. Using Voice of the Alliance™ surveys and similar tools can be helpful in spotting shifts. It is also helpful to develop a strong relationship with the finance department and the team members that usually coordinate these types of activities. Doing so can give an alliance manager advance warning of “tectonic” shifts going on in an alliance from the perspective of operational drift. Although drift can have an upside—namely in creating an awareness of new opportunities—if managed poorly, unrecognized drift can lead to messy and untimely Wind-downs. Paying attention to drift pays off in reduced risk for the alliance.
Summary – Focus on improving the areas in the alliance’s value chain that matter most. – Be an expert at planning, running, facilitating, and recording the output of governance meetings. – With your partner, arrive at a common understanding regarding the spirit that should prevail during disputes and how best to assure that the parties will maintain that spirit. – Handle each dispute carefully, assuming innocence until proven otherwise. – Think through the first-, second-, and third-order consequences of alliance interactions before committing to a decision. – Be aware that underlying corporate drift is occurring constantly; become a student of its leading indicators and develop risk-mitigating plans.
Steven e. twait, CSAP, is senior director of alliance management and M&A integration at Eli Lilly and Company. He can be reached at stwait@lilly.com, +1-317-276-5494. David S. Thompson, CA-AM, is chief alliance officer at Eli Lilly and Company and is a member of the ASAP board of directors. He can be reached at Thompson_David_S@Lilly.com, +1- 317-277-8003.
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ceo forum
Q&a with andrew Miller, president and chief executive Officer, polycom
Strategic Alliance Magazine: The company recently announced that it had consolidated its partner categories under one umbrella. What is the company hoping to achieve with this move? andrew Miller: Our partner ecosystem has evolved to keep pace with the fastchanging unified communications and collaboration (UC&C) industry, which is evolving not only in terms of technology but also across applications in industries like health care and education. Customers want unified communications and collaboration solutions that are “truly unified” and that will interoperate within the systems they already have in place. Our strategy has always been about best-of-breed interoperability using open standards, and in recent years we’ve been shifting from a hardware-focused company to a software-led company focused on solutions selling to better achieve that. The new Polycom Partner Network reflects our “open” strategy by helping break down the barriers between partners to create a coalition of technology and channel partners who work together to create, integrate, and deliver transformative solutions. We’re driving unified communications and collaboration in some of the fastestgrowing technology segments including mobile, social, browser-based, and cloud delivery. To help address those spaces, we’ve also expanded the different segments of partners, including an increased focus on service provider Quarter 1, 2013
partners who are delivering video collaboration solutions via the cloud, systems integrator partners who can create and sell a more complex solution, and technology partners who are using our APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) and software development kits to integrate with and build on the Polycom RealPresence Platform, our software infrastructure that powers video collaboration. By realigning the Polycom Partner Network, we’re better equipping our partners to develop more complete solutions, deliver better services, and meet the needs of customers. SAM: What overarching corporate objectives is this new Polycom Partner Network tasked with achieving? How does the company envision its partners executing its overall corporate strategy? Miller: Through the Polycom Partner Network, technology providers, ISVs, solution advisors, integrators, service providers, and other valued partners can easily help customers use video collaboration to improve productivity, engagement, time-to-market, and business continuity. Our 7,000 partners are fundamental to our business strategy; they make up about 99 percent of our sales. As we increasingly move toward software and cloud-delivered solutions selling, we’re working to help our partners evolve to the next phase of growth in video collaboration so together we can take advantage of new opportunities to drive
sales. We are also aligning with them in industry organizations such as the Open Visual Communications Consortium, an organization we helped cofound to drive interoperability, not just among devices but among service provider networks, creating even more opportunities. SAM: How has the company’s shift in focus from hardware to software affected its alliance strategy? Miller: Video has become mission critical for many organizations. Polycom’s strategy is to deliver breakthrough innovations and solutions by focusing on software that addresses the user experience. We’re focused on software solutions that embrace simplicity, foster interoperability through open standards, leverage virtualized resources in the data center, and are able to operate on devices such as smartphones and tablets, as well as conference room systems, to really drive video ubiquity. On Oct. 8, this strategy culminated in the largest product launch in our company history with innovations that will grow the addressable market and create more opportunities for Polycom and our partners. We set out on this journey in the context of how we can make sure we augment and expand the partner opportunity to make money and provide differentiation. We are partner-enabling all of these technologies to allow our partners to not only extend their product portfolios but have a clear differentiation versus the competition. 43
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This will open new doors for our partners to expand their business within existing customer environments; grow their business with new customers, especially in the mid-market; and build new models for recurring revenue. SAM: What are your expectations of your alliance management group personnel (vice presidents, directors, managers, etc.)? Miller: Alliances are a critical part of Polycom’s strategy. Polycom’s vision is to make video collaboration ubiquitous, but one organization cannot achieve that vision alone. It takes an ecosystem to provide innovative, easy-to-use video collaboration solutions for any environment and any use case, delivered on premises or from the cloud. Many of our technology and alliance partners develop solutions that embrace and extend our RealPresence Platform. With our open application programming interface, developers and service providers can extend the RealPresence Platform by building new apps to support and differentiate their services and to increase revenue
per user. For example, we have partners like X2O, which integrates into our solutions to extend our video content to digital signage, and myVRM, which has developed a video platform resource management solution. By working with industry leaders, including Microsoft, IBM, AT&T, Broadsoft, and many others, Polycom is making it easier for our customers to access UC&C capabilities, including video, from a variety of environments. We expect all our alliance teams and leaders at Polycom to fully embrace our partners as they are critical to our success. We want our partners to lead with Polycom, and our alliance personnel are essential to achieving that. Our alliance teams work throughout the company, from product development to sales and marketing, to ensure that the entire organization is aligned with our alliance partners. SAM: Alliances have been an integral part of IT for years. What major challenges are IT companies seeing in working with alliance partners in general, and
how can you overcome them? Miller: One of the challenges in technology is how fast the technology is changing; and for a software-led company, it only accelerates. With a large ecosystem of partners, it’s essential that they stay informed on our latest solutions and that we codevelop solutions that integrate well together. To do that, we rapidly and aggressively train our partners to equip them to succeed along with us. Educating, training, and empowering our partner community is a key part of our strategy, whether through joint development of complementary and interoperable solutions, online through our portal PolycomConnect for Partners and Polycom University, or in person through road shows and events at our Polycom Executive Experience Centers globally or our annual TEAM Polycom conference, which will take place in early February in Vancouver. n
Summit Continued from page 33
given on Thursday afternoon, so be sure to study!
Thursday: Looking to the Future and Dancing with Alliance Stars
The venue for the 2013 Summit, the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center (www.gaylordhotels.com/gaylord-palms/index. html), is an attractive one—and should prove especially welcome to all those who will be traveling there from locales still in the grip of winter. Located in Kissimmee, Fla., the Gaylord is right next to Orlando and within easy distance of the airport, the Walt Disney World complex, and all major Orlando attractions. In addition to its comfortable rooms, suites, and conference facilities, the Gaylord is lush and green, with six enticing restaurants and lounges, a fitness center and spa, adult pool and small family water park, shopping, and three unique “atrium” ecosystems—four and a half acres of glass-enclosed natural gardens and walks through specific Florida habitats, representing the Everglades, Key West, and St. Augustine.
On the Summit’s final day, Thursday, March 7, presenters and participants alike will be looking ahead: to the Alliance Horizon. In this Closing Session, one of the pioneers of alliance management and the founding chairman of ASAP, Robert Porter Lynch, along with Patricia Garcia, formerly of Sanofi, will present “What Alliance Pros Can Learn from Dancing with the Stars: How Trust, Alignment, and Some Nimble Footwork Can Help Your Career Performance.” No dancing is required, but the presenters will use the example of ballroom dancing competition to show how critical trust, alignment, and “alliance footwork” are to alliance success and career advancement—not to mention helping you to avoid stepping on toes or falling on your derriere. A historical as well as business perspective on coopetition alliances through time will be provided by Helen Morin and Bill Stewart of SAS in “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.” (At press time we could neither confirm nor deny a guest appearance by John le Carré.) Rounding out the Closing Session, CEO Michael Taylor of Schellingpoint will take a hard look at alignment optimization methods in “Degrees of Alignment.” And that will mark the end of the official Summit activities and events—although it should be noted that the CSAP exam will be Quarter 1, 2013
See you in Orlando in March!
Be There! Register Now and Don’t Delay All in all, the 2013 ASAP Global Alliance Summit promises to be even bigger, better, and more heavily attended than last year’s very successful Summit. If you and your alliance team haven’t already registered, visit www.strategic-alliances.org right away—or contact Michele Shannon at +1-781-562-1630 ext. 204 or mshannon@strategic-alliances.org. Do it now! n 45
Your Career: The Art of Storytelling
A “Yarn” Is More Than Just “Spin”— It’s a Powerful Way to Influence People and Motivate Change
By Jon Lavietes
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E ditorial As members of a profession that relies heavily on “influencing with out authority,” alliance managers often have to get creative to persuade co workers of all stripes to prioritize a collaboration equally with the company’s interests, spur people internally or in partner companies to take the necess ary actions to make an alliance success ful, or secure funding and resources for their alliance portfolios.
S upplement Depending on the situation, there are a number of vehicles one could use to get a point across or elicit a specific action from a stakeholder—presentations, emails, research, data, and testimonials, for example. However, there is another means that is almost as old as language itself but still serves as a powerful tool today for business people in general, and alliance managers in particular. It is the art of storytelling, and when it is done right, it can galvanize people of any rank or background into seeing a viewpoint or taking a critical next step.
Tall Tales May Flop, but Real Stories Stand Tall Stories, quite simply, can strike a chord with people in a unique way. “Strategic stories are powerful because people can picture them, remember them, and retell them. Well-developed stories not only answer the ‘Why?’ questions but also convey emotion in a way that inspires people to take action in accordance with the new strategy,” wrote Shawn Callahan, founder and codirector of management consulting firm Anecdote Pty Ltd., in his white paper “How to Make Your Strategy Stick with a Strategic Story.” According to Callahan, we are more than 20 times more likely to remember a story than a set of bullets in a presentation. Last May, Callahan gave a presentation on the nuances of storytelling at an ASAP Asia Collaborative Business Community chapter event. Months later, Callahan reflected on the numerous other ways the art form can specifically help alliance management professionals—aside from helping to meet that basic challenge of influencing without authority—based on his growing familiarity with the profession. “One of the most important things you’re trying to do [as an alliance manager] is create a new common identity so those people can come together and really gel,” he said. Stories not only can help forge that identity, they can dispel some of the misconceptions those outside the profession tend to have about what a true hand-in-hand organizational collaboration looks like. Simply put, by illustrating through concrete examples brought to life, they serve as models for what partnership is supposed to be. “People go, ‘Ah, that’s what you mean by collaboration!’ There’s ways [stories] can systematically embed an understanding of collaboration in an alliance,” Callahan explained. Communications consultant Trisha Griffin-Carty, president of Griffin-Carty Communications, recently led a session at the 2012 ASAP BioPharma Conference titled “What’s Your Story?: Elevating Your Ability to Deliver Complex Messages Simply and Clearly.” Many people have come to her with the preconceived notion that storytelling is a rare and innate ability. She disagrees with this assertion sharply.
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details that matter most to him or her, the alliance manager has opened a channel to communicate the rest of the important facets of making an alliance a success that might seem mundane to that person on the surface (e.g., the arm-twisting, lengthy meetings, back-room negotiations, and numerous phone calls). In addition to a stem, Griffin-Carty also recommended using “headlines” to grab people’s attention whenever possible. This can be something like, “Are we going to do this now or pay for it later?” she said by way of example. Shawn Callahan, founder and co- Trisha Griffin-Carty, president of director of management consulting Griffin-Carty Communications. firm Anecdote Pty Ltd.
“There’s a structure that’s learnable,” she said. Moreover, she added, great stories are all around every one of us—in our day-to-day travails, the experiences of our colleagues, and even well outside of our lines of work.
Stems and Headlines So how does the average corporate worker go about putting together a powerful story? Griffin-Carty stressed that storytelling is both “art and science.” While people can be daunted by the “art” portion—the inflection and delivery of a story, for example—she said anyone can master the craft by starting with the “science,” which in her framework consists of three parts: 1) the example serving as the core of the story; 2) the themes, topics, and messages from the example that form the story’s purpose; and 3) the listeners’ points of view. The latter poses the biggest of challenges as storytellers must figure out their audience and make sure their messages align with the listeners’ worldviews. For example, if an alliance manager is fortunate enough to earn a spot on a key C-Suite stakeholder’s calendar to make the pitch for additional resources for the function’s growing portfolio, that person can start to build a story around a fruitful alliance and how it helped meet core company goals. Furthermore, she recommended that the results be used as a “stem” for the story—a “stem” is a hook at the beginning of a tale that helps lead the listener, such as, “We worked with Company X who also was also confronted with this challenge…,” or “So and so is facing a situation where…” In this case, the stem might sound something like, “This is a deal that went through, it was highly successful, [and] was one of the most significant our company has ever been involved with,” said Griffin-Carty. By grabbing the senior leader’s attention with the high-level 48
Putting Stories in the Bank Once you know how to craft a story in an engaging way, you need to build your story bank. As GriffinCarty noted, there are stories all around us. The key is getting the key points down while they are fresh in our minds. Fortunately, technology has made it much easier for us to do this. “Say it into your [smart] phone and play it back,” urged Griffin-Carty in speaking to her audience at the 2012 ASAP BioPharma Conference. Callahan also implores his clients to just jot down key details—names, locations, etc.—rather than writing out stories verbatim. The delivery needs to be tailored with each telling; the pertinent points and level of detail will vary with the specific needs of each listener. In addition, there has to be a level of spontaneity or it will come off as phony. Unfortunately, that authenticity often cannot be preserved if you are trying to speak from a prepared script. “If you write it out, people try to remember how it’s written, which is a big mistake,” said Callahan. Whether in your brain or on your smart phone, your story bank should grow steadily. Callahan’s company, Anecdote, built the Web site www.zahmoo.com, which allows you to store and retrieve your stories from a central place.
Bad News, Good News It’s one thing to have an arsenal of stories at the ready for any occasion. It’s another to know how to deploy them effectively. A successful technique Callahan employs is to use two stories for any given purpose—a negative story and a positive one—and to lead with the former. “Stories of failure don’t change our behavior, but they grab our attention,” he said. “It concerns people.” Such negative “before” stories also set up the “after” picture. And as Callahan noted, in many instances, exStrategic Alliance Magazine
amples of what went right probably already exist within a given organization’s collective memory or that of its partner—whether it is a governance structure working correctly, a sales unit selling collaboratively, or a pair of partner vertical industry teams working together to develop the right solutions for their shared customers. “Rather than find problems, find what’s working now and do more of it. That’s the essence of the second story,” said Callahan. Griffin-Carty noted that you could even juxtapose negative and positive in a single story. For example, you can note that trust was nonexistent at the outset of a particular alliance. After illustrating the steps that were taken to build trust you can end by saying something like, “While there were moments of turbulence in the beginning, over the period of our collaboration that trust really grew and the transparency issue just became part of the fabric,” she said. Whether using two individual stories or counterpoints in a single narrative, the objective in both cases is simple: “These stories must have a happy ending, one that highlights the speaker’s successful resolution of a challenging situation,” said Griffin-Carty.
Temperatures Rising Finding the right moment to drop a story within a business context is as much an art as telling the story itself. For one thing, not everyone has time for a story. Moreover, although there are instances in which the “when” is obvious—say, at an upcoming governance meeting—a spontaneous telling of a story can be a dicey proposition depending on the situation and mood in the room. “Take the temperature in the room—the political temperature,” Griffin-Carty urged. If emotions are running high and the mood is tense, the storyteller has to figure out based on knowledge of the players in the room whether to save it for another day or acknowledge the tension outright and see if he or she can uncover the root causes of the stress. “Is it because [the initiative or topic under discussion] is new? Is it because they got burned before? Is it because they’re concerned about sharing? Are they concerned about not being in favor of this alliance? Then, you need a story that addresses [the concern],” said Griffin-Carty. One might then follow up with a story that starts with a stem such as, “We have encountered this before…” Of course, it also helps to test your anecdotes with Quarter 1, 2013
trusted colleagues or friends. If a story doesn’t resonate with them, the narrator can fine-tune the parts that don’t work. If it strikes a chord, chances are it is ready for primetime. “You’re never certain whether your story is going to hit the mark. You have to experiment with it. Start off with a low-risk environment,” Callahan recommended. Whenever and however you share your tale, don’t tell people you are going to tell them a “story”—Callahan called this a “rookie mistake,” since the word comes with baggage in that it connotes falseness, pretense, or fluff in some people’s minds. “Just jump straight into the story,” he said.
Great Leaders Generate Great Stories In addition to storytelling, Callahan engages his clients in two other related skills he calls “story listening” and “story triggering.” For story listening, Callahan instructs the individuals of a given team, or in this case alliance, to share examples of real-life collaborations separately. The team leader sifts through these dozen or so narratives, chooses the one or two best illustrations, and retells them to the group as a whole. The team then discusses the commonalities of each tale together (e.g., prioritizing the alliance over individual interests, looking at things from someone else’s perspective, etc.). “As they’re talking, what they’re doing is they’re embedding what it really means to collaborate,” said Callahan. The team repeats the process by submitting new stories each month for continuous learning. Story triggering is particularly effective for people in positions of power. Callahan recounted how the new CEO of an Australian bank found it curious that some of his new organization’s conference rooms were completely empty, while the other half were in constant use throughout the day. On the doors of the empty meeting rooms he found signs explaining that the rooms were available exclusively to general managers and senior leaders. The new CEO walked into all the empty meeting rooms and ripped the signs off the walls, thereby sending the company the message that conference rooms were to be booked based on business need, not employee rank. “People are leader watchers. They’re focused on people with power,” said Callahan. “Good leaders do remarkable things to trigger stories.” Continued on page 55 49
You are reading the Limited Edition of Strategic Alliance Magazine, the magazine of the Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals. The printed magazine is mailed free to all ASAP members and Sponsors and is also available as a paid subscription. The complete PDF is available to members by logging in to www.strategic-alliances.org For Membership and Sponsor information email membership@strategic-alliances.org or call +1-781-562-1630 ext. 200
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Strategic Alliance Magazine
You are reading the Limited Edition of Strategic Alliance Magazine, the magazine of the Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals. The printed magazine is mailed free to all ASAP members and Sponsors and is also available as a paid subscription. The complete PDF is available to members by logging in to www.strategic-alliances.org For Membership and Sponsor information email membership@strategic-alliances.org or call +1-781-562-1630 ext. 200
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You are reading the Limited Edition of Strategic Alliance Magazine, the magazine of the Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals. The printed magazine is mailed free to all ASAP members and Sponsors and is also available as a paid subscription. The complete PDF is available to members by logging in to www.strategic-alliances.org For Membership and Sponsor information email membership@strategic-alliances.org or call +1-781-562-1630 ext. 200
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Strategic Alliance Magazine
You are reading the Limited Edition of Strategic Alliance Magazine, the magazine of the Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals. The printed magazine is mailed free to all ASAP members and Sponsors and is also available as a paid subscription. The complete PDF is available to members by logging in to www.strategic-alliances.org For Membership and Sponsor information email membership@strategic-alliances.org or call +1-781-562-1630 ext. 200
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REGISTER NOW!
The 2013 ASAP Global Alliance Summit Is a Must-Attend Event, So Don’t Wait – Register by Feb. 28 for the Best Rate No other event delivers as much valuable information, connects you to more of the profession’s thought leaders, or does more to advance your career than the ASAP Global Alliance Summit.
✓ More than 40 Sessions, including keynotes, panels, and breakouts ✓ Representation from a wide cross-section of industries ✓ Hands-on training in how to use the discipline’s most modern tools,
processes, and methodologies ✓ Invaluable lessons that apply to all phases of the alliance life cycle To register visit strategic-alliances.org/summit – and lock in the best full-conference rate today!
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To learn about or purchase sponsorship programs, speak to any ASAP staff member at +1-781-562-1630 or contact: John DeWitt, Publisher, ASAP Media Tel: +1-978-544-1866 jdewitt@asapmedia.org Michele Shannon, Senior Meeting & Event Manager +1-781-562-1630 ext. 204 mshannon@strategic-alliances.org
Alliance Managers know that signing the deal is just the tip of the iceberg. Contact 7ContinentsCollaboration, LLC to strategize your next steps. We welcome your inquiries at brooke@7continentscollaboration.com or by calling +1 617 595 6936.
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your career Continued from page 49 Story triggering has a bigger purpose as well. Change the tales people tell within a company, and you can transform the values of that organization. “The culture of any group is illustrated by the stories they tell,” said Callahan. “Good leaders do remarkable things to trigger stories.”
A Better Medium for Your Message Callahan noted that storytelling can serve as a much easier and more
collaborative Buzz from page 14 created a men’s and women’s limited edition runDisney 860v3 running shoe that captures the spirit of two favorite Disney characters, Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse. (Mickey and Minnie could not be reached for comment.)
Novartis and MorphoSys Expand Alliance
MorphoSys AG recently announced an expansion of its strategic alliance with ASAP Global Member Novartis AG. The long-term alliance will now benefit from new technologies that were not available when the current agreement between the two companies was signed in 2007. The aim is to accelerate the discovery of new therapeutic antibodies and to increase the overall productivity of the collaboration. Financial details were not disclosed. The companies will apply the entire Quarter 1, 2013
flexible medium for getting your point across. You have a lot more leeway relaying an anecdote verbally than you are afforded in a typical email or memo. You can repeat yourself, stop halfway through for dramatic effect, and not only use clichés but have them serve a useful purpose, which is often not accepted practice in written documents. More important, by mastering the craft of storytelling you can demonstrate the importance of the alliance manager, individual alliance, or alliance portfolio clearly. Then perhaps you can create a new parable with a happy ending in which senior management realizes alliance management’s strategic value to the company—and people won’t think it’s just a “likely story.” n
suite of new technologies available to MorphoSys, including Ylanthia, which makes therapeutic antibodies, and Slonomics, which is involved in gene synthesis. The companies will also cross-license future improvements for their mutual benefit. Novartis will continue to fund a dedicated research team at MorphoSys and pay annual license fees as previously until the end of the collaboration in 2017. The companies agreed to waive the existing codevelopment options, as MorphoSys looks to increase its focus on its own proprietary portfolio of therapeutic antibody candidates. MorphoSys and Novartis started working together in 2004. In December 2007, the two companies substantially extended their relationship. The collaboration has resulted in six clinical programs to date, with four currently being evaluated in Phase II.
Pfizer and Halozyme in Biologics Deal
ASAP Corporate Members Pfizer and Halozyme Therapeutics have entered into a global collaboration that is potentially worth up to $515 million to develop and commercialize biologics based on Halozyme’s Enhanze technology. Under the terms of the deal, Pfizer will receive a worldwide license to develop and commercialize products containing Halozyme’s patented recombinant human hyaluronidase enzyme for up to six targets. In return, Halozyme will receive an initial payment of $8 million, which the company said includes an upfront fee for exclusive licenses to two specified therapeutic targets in primary care and specialty care indications. The biopharmaceutical noted that it is also eligible for additional milestones payments from Pfizer worth up to $507 million, as well as royalties on net sales. n 55
You are reading the Limited Edition of Strategic Alliance Magazine, the magazine of the Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals. The printed magazine is mailed free to all ASAP members and Sponsors and is also available as a paid subscription. The complete PDF is available to members by logging in to www.strategic-alliances.org For Membership and Sponsor information email membership@strategic-alliances.org or call +1-781-562-1630 ext. 200
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Strategic Alliance Magazine
You are reading the Limited Edition of Strategic Alliance Magazine, the magazine of the Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals. The printed magazine is mailed free to all ASAP members and Sponsors and is also available as a paid subscription. The complete PDF is available to members by logging in to www.strategic-alliances.org For Membership and Sponsor information email membership@strategic-alliances.org or call +1-781-562-1630 ext. 200
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You are reading the Limited Edition of Strategic Alliance Magazine, the magazine of the Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals. The printed magazine is mailed free to all ASAP members and Sponsors and is also available as a paid subscription. The complete PDF is available to members by logging in to www.strategic-alliances.org For Membership and Sponsor information email membership@strategic-alliances.org or call +1-781-562-1630 ext. 200
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Strategic Alliance Magazine
You are reading the Limited Edition of Strategic Alliance Magazine, the magazine of the Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals. The printed magazine is mailed free to all ASAP members and Sponsors and is also available as a paid subscription. The complete PDF is available to members by logging in to www.strategic-alliances.org For Membership and Sponsor information email membership@strategic-alliances.org or call +1-781-562-1630 ext. 200
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The Benefits of ASAP Membership and Chapter Participation Stay Local, Partner Global. ASAP’s local Chapters in multiple regions on four continents convene alliance professionals for tailored programming. Our continually growing community of Chapters provides a mix of content and networking opportunities. By joining ASAP and then attending Chapter events, you will be able to build your professional network, discover best practices, hear from experts, and create new connections. It is easy to see why Chapters are great places to build a collaboration network – you can take advantage of this rich environment to create local offerings for our growing alliance management community. Being active in an ASAP Chapter as a company or as an individual will show your commitment to your alliances and your professional development. ASAP Global and Corporate members including Xerox, Dell, IBM, Quintiles, Sanofi, Schneider Electric, AstraZeneca, The Rhythm of Business, Vantage Partners, SAS, Cisco, GSK, Nationwide, Verizon, PwC, and many more are active participants in ASAP Chapters.
Join Today! Learn more about ASAP and the benefits of participating in an ASAP Chapter, and how you can enhance your alliance management performance as an individual or corporate member. For the current Chapter list, go to strategic-alliances.org/chapters. See our home page for upcoming Chapter events. For additional information on ASAP Membership including Chapter benefits, access, and resources, please contact Lori Gold, senior manager of membership services, at lgold@strategic-alliances.org or +1-781-562-1630 ext. 203. 60
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Strategic Alliance Magazine
You are reading the Limited Edition of Strategic Alliance Magazine, the magazine of the Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals. The printed magazine is mailed free to all ASAP members and Sponsors and is also available as a paid subscription. The complete PDF is available to members by logging in to www.strategic-alliances.org For Membership and Sponsor information email membership@strategic-alliances.org or call +1-781-562-1630 ext. 200
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the close
Collaboration or Collapse? It Takes an Alliance—and Alliance Managers’ Collaborative Skills—to Move the Planet Toward a Sustainable Future By John DeWitt and Michael Burke
IN WHAT WE LIKE TO CALL OUR LEISURE TIME (and we try not to choke when we use that phrase), our reading lately has included Jared Diamond’s fascinating and disturbing Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed (Penguin, rev. ed. 2011). A mix of scientific insights and cultural and environmental history, Collapse chronicles the rise and catastrophic fall of societies ranging from Easter Island to Viking Greenland to the Maya and Anasazi, through a combination of environmental impact, climate change, and unsustainable use (and ultimately destruction) of resources. The book raises an obvious and sobering question: are we headed for a similar sort of collapse, only this time on a global scale?
Inaction is not an option. But it’s going to take many different stakeholders to transform words into actions. It’s going to take collaboration to get it done. Why is this relevant to the alliance profession? The answer is twofold: one, we’re all citizens of this fragile planet, with a collective stake in its survival; two, many of us now recognize the tremendous risk our businesses face from collapsing ecosystems, economies, and societies. The smarter companies have acted on this awareness by working on solutions to the problems posed by climate change, scarce resources, global poverty, and widespread, systemic inequities in distribution of both material goods and access to education, electricity, clean water, health care, the Internet, and other vital components of modern life. “At least half the world’s population either doesn’t have access to electricity or is at the bottom of the energy pyramid,” said Alistair Pim, vice president of global strategic alliances at ASAP Global Member Schneider Electric. “They can’t spend time at night studying because they don’t have light, so they can’t get away from a hand-to-mouth existence. You’ve got this huge well of potential for people, if they only had electricity.” 62
Schneider Electric is just one company that’s ahead of the curve in this area. Among other initiatives, it’s channeling some of its profits into forming complex alliances with local governments, country teams, and rural communities to bring electricity to people in developing nations in ways that are sustainable and renewable. Schneider also partnered with Grameen Bank in Bangladesh to make microloans available so that people could afford to purchase lighting. (Grameen Bank was founded by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, and the head of the related but separate Grameen Foundation, Alex Counts, will be the keynote speaker at the 2013 ASAP Global Alliance Summit. See story on page 32.) IBM’s Smarter Planet program is another example of a large corporation (and ASAP Global Member) putting its weight and resources behind sustainable development efforts. Many of these are actually multipartner alliances that focus on making cities more livable, healthy, and energy-efficient, because cities are where half the population lives, and “that’s where a lot of energy is generated and used,” as Pim noted. In our last issue, we looked at how alliance management professionals might contribute to solving these vexing challenges. Our next issue will feature another article in our series, focusing more specifically on some ways in which public-private partnerships are working toward sustainability. Company leaders increasingly realize that inaction is not an option. But it’s going to take many different people and stakeholders— from corporations to governments to village leaders—to transform words into actions and actions into positive change. More to the point, it’s going to take collaboration, on many levels, to get it done. It’s a challenge and an opportunity. Alliance managers may be that rare breed who actually have the skills and mindset to seize that opportunity and orchestrate collaborations that, if successful, could move our planet away from the brink of collapse and toward a more sustainable future. n Strategic alliance Magazine
Re to Att se M e AS T Go arch ark nd M AP ue -to o et : ak Glo sda -M n H Th ing ba y, M ar ow e La It l Al a ke to te lian rch t A O st ce 5, a llian ptim Su t th ce iz mm e s e it in 2013 Orl an do .
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