Mental Maps of Strategic Alliances

  The relevance of the tasks of building partnerships between organizations participating in the value chain, on the one hand, is determined by the desire to reduce transaction costs, and on the other hand, by the need to gain competitive advantages in the market of goods and services. The strategic intentions of interacting organizations are coordinated when formingalliances through agreements on mutual obligations. Such forms of association of organizations as meta-organizations, clusters and business ecosystems have their advantages and disadvantages.  The purpose of this study is to determine the main content of these forms of association of participants in joint activities, which opens up the possibility of identifying distinctive features for adjusting the definitions of each of the forms.  Among the research methods, models for constructing mental maps, the method of paired comparisons and the formation of blocks of characteristics, logical analysis and synthesis of information within the subject area of research were used. This paper defines the main content of these forms of association of organizations, as well as their advantages and disadvantages as initial categories. As a result, new definitions of these categories are given, as well as their interrelations, general and special characteristics.