Managing strategic alliances between Church World Services and community based organizations in Kenya

Abstract

A strategic alliance is an arrangement wherein organizations agree to co-operate with each other in a business area, each bringing different strengths and capabilities to the alliance. Interorganizational co-operation is spurred by the increased recognition of the fact that no firm or organization has all the capabilities e.g. resources and activities, needed for it to achieve its goals or objectives in the marketplace in today’s dynamic and heterogeneous global market. Benefits of strategic alliances include and are not limited to cost minimization, knowledge acquisition, and resource sharing. For these benefits to be fully realized, Strategic alliances have to be adequately managed. A case study on Church World Services was done to investigate how strategic alliances are formed and managed for full realization of benefits. The study revealed the various phases (design phase and post formation phase) in the formation and management of these strategic alliances. It was established that the choice of an appropriate strategic partner (complementary, compatible, and committed) at the time of alliance formation, and making relevant choices with respect to alliance design in terms of equity or contractual or relational governance, the alliance is more likely to succeed. Limitations of the study included limited time and resources resulting in a constraint on the scope as well as the depth of the research, the research design which inhibited generalization and also unfamiliarity with the organization under investigation. The role of external donors in influencing international humanitarian organization’s choice of strategic partners can be used as basis for further research because there is insufficient literature highlighting the role of these partners on the choice of strategic partners.