Right from the start: the seven virtues of a successful alliance launch

This paper provides practice-based advice about the steps corporations entering new alliances should take to ensure the long-term success of their collaborations. The paper's premise is based on the observations and research of the authors, consultants from Vantage Partners LLC. Vantage, a spin-off of the Harvard Negotiation Project, specialises in enabling organisations to achieve business value from their strategic alliances, through more effective relationship management. The paper demonstrates that companies across industries encounter roadblocks to collaboration that can be avoided through more deliberate efforts during the start-up, or launch phase, of a new venture. The paper then outlines critical elements of early success, naming them 'virtues of alliance launch'. The importance of each virtue or success factor is explained and the paper goes on to offer detailed advice based on the authors' collective experience with thousands of practitioners across industries. The advice is supported by instructional models and case examples illustrating their application.