This article describes two approaches towards

2. In partnership,
there is strength
An Office of Eli Lilly and CompanyAn Office of Eli Lilly and Company E-mail stwait@lilly.com for more information.
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.
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.

3. 960TurnpikeSt,Canton
MA02021USA
Tel:+1-781-562-1630
strategic-alliances.org
info@strategic-alliances.org
FindYourNextSuperstar
AllianceProfessional
TheASAPCareerCenter
TheGatewaytotheBestAlliance,Partnership,Collaboration,
andChannelProgramManagers
ASAP members, save significant money on job postings—contact us now
for your discount code! Find the candidates who:
▶ Possess the skills to steer your alliances, partnerships,
collaborations, and channel engagements to fruition
▶ Are CA-AM and/or CSAP–certified
▶ Fit your company’s strategic needs
Individual, Corporate, and Global Members, contact Lori Gold or
Michele Yudysky to receive your discount code and post your job
opening at the ASAP Career Center today!
LoriGold MicheleYudysky
Senior Manager of Membership Services Membership Coordinator
+1-781-562-1630 ext 203 +1-781-562-1630 ext 209
lgold@strategic-alliances.org myudysky@strategic-alliances.org
“I’ve added ASAP certification as something I look for;
it’s in our official job postings for any position we have.”
—Gerald J. Dehkes, CSAP, director of
alliance management at KPMG LLP

4. TheBestAlliance
ManagementTraining
YouWillFind–Certified!
CertificationWorkshops
Comingtothe2014ASAPGlobal
AllianceSummit
For more information, or to register for one of these workshops or the
CSAP Exam, please contact Jennifer Silver at +1-781-562-1630 ext. 205
or jsilver@strategic-alliances.org.
CA-AM&CSAPExam
PreparatoryWorkshops
Monday,March10,8:30am–2:30pm
TheTalkingStickResort
Scottsdale,Arizona,USA
CSAPExam
Thursday,March13,9:00am–12:00pm
TheTalkingStickResort
Scottsdale,Arizona,USA
CSAP
CA-AM
ASAPGLOBAL
ALLIANCE
SUMMIT
MARCH 10-13,2014 SCOTTSDALE

5. 5Quarter 1, 2014
BringingKnowledge
WhereIt’sNeeded
OurMembersExpectaGrowing
BaseandFreshContent—andWe’re
FindingNewWaystoBringIttoThemin2014
ByMichaelLeonetti
ONE OF THE EVERGREEN GOALS OF OUR ASSOCIATION is to grow our membership and
spread our community’s knowledge to the fast-growing number of organizations that sorely need alli-
ance management and partnering expertise—and in turn benefit from these new members’ wisdom.
When we think about expanding our base,
the discussion has tended to revolve around
newindustries.Whileoureffortstobreakinto
newverticalshavebeencritical—peoplefrom
engineering, insurance, sales and marketing
firms,oilandgas,engineeringandconstruc-
tion, and consumer packaged goods, among
others, have joined ASAP over the past year
and a half—we must not overlook the tre-
mendous growth opportunities that exist in
our traditional segments.
For years, the IT industry has relied heav-
ily on channel partners (i.e., “sell-through”
relationships) to bring in large volumes of
revenues. While the most fruitful channel
partner relationships have always been built
on collaboration, too often success has been
limited by a transactional view. Today, the
impact of new “SMAC” technologies (social
media, mobile, big data analytics, and cloud)
and new business models is demanding that
technology providers and resellers work
more closely. Many in channels now have to
not only rethink their sales goals, but also re-
evaluatetheskillsrequiredtoachievethem—
and whether their staffs truly have them.
ASAP has been at the forefront of educating
and providing a forum for those individu-
als who make business partnerships suc-
cessful. We have consistently provided tools
and methodologies that partnership-based
businesspeople will need in order to thrive
in the years to come. The 2014 ASAP Global
Alliance Summit program contains a track
of powerful sessions dedicated to channels
and their changing landscape. Our chapters
are looking into programming around this
topic for the coming year. ASAP Global is
also examining the possibilities for deliver-
ing other content devoted to this segment
well after the Summit through webinars and
various education channels. In addition to
providing content that is relevant to many of
our current IT-industry members, who may
focus primarily on their strategic alliances,
we hope our channel efforts, which are fo-
cused on reaching or exceeding sales objec-
tives by mastering the critical success fac-
tors of partnership management, will bring
perspectives from new faces, something that
ASAP colleagues of all industries have cited
as a major benefit of membership ever since
I joined the association in 2002.
TrainingforNew
AllianceManagers
ASAP has always prided itself on being the
place alliance management professionals of
allexperiencelevelsturnto.Thisyear,weare
expanding our offerings for those learning
theropesinalliancemanagement.Moreand
more companies are establishing brand-new
alliance management divisions, while sev-
eralthathavehadpartnershipoperationsfor
some time are expanding their groups, ne-
cessitating the education of new team mem-
bers making their first foray into the profes-
sion. The leaders of ASAP Global Member
Eli Lilly and Company’s alliance manage-
ment practice, one of the longest-standing
and most accomplished in the history of the
discipline, will deliver ASAP’s first-ever “In-
troduction to Alliance Management Work-
shop” at the ASAP Global Alliance Summit
in March. Thanks to the generosity of Eli
Lilly, which is sharing its talent and intel-
lectual property with ASAP, attendees will
learnthebasicsofthestart-up,maintenance,
andwindingdownofalliances,andwillwalk
awaywithcasestudies,tools,andtechniques
that they can apply as they learn their craft.
As with channel management program-
ming, we will look for ways to support this
critical group of members throughout 2014.
We always have to bring fresh thinking to
our ongoing tasks. Our channels and entry-
level alliance programs will ensure that we
continue to meet our members’ core needs.
I wish you and your partnerships great
success in 2014—and hope to see you at
our annual ASAP Global Alliance Summit
March 10–13 in Scottsdale, Ariz., USA.
MichaelLeonetti,
CSAP,president
andCEOofASAP,
isexecutive
publisherof
StrategicAlliance
Magazine.
upfront

6. Quarter1,2014
Themagazineofthe
AssociationofStrategicAllianceProfessionals
ANASAPMEDIAPUBLICATION
www.ASAPmedia.org
www.strategic-alliances.org
EDITORIALTEAM
MichaelLeonetti,CSAP
ExecutivePublisher
+1-781-562-1630ext.201
mleonetti@strategic-alliances.org
JohnW.DeWitt,
Publisher
+1-978-544-1866
jdewitt@ASAPmedia.org
JonLavietes,
EditorialDirector
+1-415-572-4408
jlavietes@ASAPmedia.org
MichaelBurke,
Editor-in-Chief
+1-413-665-4958
mburke@ASAPmedia.org
GregCaulton,
CreativeDirector
+1-413-461-7096
gcaulton@ASAPmedia.org
GaryLee,
OnlineMediaManager
+1-978-544-1866
glee@ASAPmedia.org
RikRolski,
SponsorshipSalesDirector
+1-978-544-1866
rrolski@ASAPmedia.org
MichelleDuga,
SponsorshipCoordinator
+1-978-544-1866
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EmilyBayard,
ImageResearcher
+1-413-461-7096
ebayard@ASAPmedia.org
MikeRuocco,
GraphicDesigner
+1-978-544-1866
mruocco@ASAPmedia.org
ASAPSTAFF
MichaelLeonetti,
PresidentandCEO
+1-781-562-1630ext.201
mleonetti@strategic-alliances.org
LoriGold,
DirectorofMembershipServices
+1-781-562-1630ext.203
lgold@strategic-alliances.org
MicheleShannon,CA-AM,CMP
SeniorMeeting&EventManager
+1-781-562-1630ext.204
mshannon@strategic-alliances.org
KimberlyT.Miller,
MarketingDirector
+1-781-562-1630ext.208
kmiller@strategic-alliances.org
BrendanWard,
AdministrativeSupport
+1-781-562-1630ext.200
bward@strategic-alliances.org
DianeLemkin,
AccountingManager
+1-781-562-1630ext.206
dianel@strategic-alliances.org
JenniferSilver,
CertificationCoordinator
+1-781-562-1630ext.205
jsilver@strategic-alliances.org
MicheleYudysky,
MembershipCoordinator
+1-781-562-1630ext.209
myudysky@strategic-alliances.org
© Copyright 2014 Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals.
All Rights Reserved.
18n PRMISHAPS
AMatter
ofPerspective
Misaligned Press
Releases and Rogue
Media Statements Can
Make for Public-Facing
Crises in an Alliance
By Jon Lavietes
Few would dispute
that just about any
alliance will come
with unforeseen challenges and tense moments over its lifespan. Fighting fires
is tough enough internally, so imagine how much harder it is when the rough
patches in your partnership become visible to the public at large.
24n BOOK EXCERPT
TheControl-TrustDilemma
Finding the Right Balance Makes It Easier
to Arrive at an Effective Alliance Design
ByArd-PieterdeMan
InanexcerptfromhisnewbookAlliances:An
ExecutiveGuidetoDesigningSuccessfulStrategic
Partnerships,ourguestauthoroutlinestwo
theoriesforalliancedesign:1)thecontrolview,and
2)thetrustview.Oneofthemostfundamental
questionsthatneedstobeansweredwhen
designinganallianceis:Whatistherightbalance
betweencontrolandtrustgiventhe
specificaimsthisallianceseeks
toachieve?
inthisissue
Strategic Alliance Magazine6

7. ASAPGLOBAL
ALLIANCE
SUMMIT
MARCH 10-13,2014 SCOTTSDALE
7Quarter 1, 2014
5n UPFRONT
Our Members Expect a Growing Base and Fresh Content—
and We’re Finding New Ways to Bring It to Them in 2014
11n COLLABORATIVEBUZZ
AllianceNewsBriefs | PeopleintheNews | ASAP & ASAP
Partner Calendar of Events |ASAP Chapter Updates
Regular Features:
15n ASAPMEMBERSPOTLIGHT
A Broader, More Aligned View
A Revamped Alliance Practice Has Unisys Taking a
Longer-Term, Strategic Approach to Partnerships
By Jon Lavietes
33n EDITORIAL SUPPLEMENT
RoleModeling
AStructuredApproachtoDevelopingGreatAllianceManagers
By Rachelle E. Hawkins, CA-AM, Joanna L. C. May, CA-AM,
David S. Thompson, CA-AM, and Steven E.Twait, CSAP
Alliance management is a composite discipline that
requires skills from a range of functions, including
project management, human resources, finance, legal,
engineering, IT, and business development. This knowl-
edge needs to be complemented with a comprehensive
combination of interpersonal, professional, and alliance-
specific competencies. According to the authors, the
good news is that these skills can be acquired, applied,
and enhanced over time to achieve the alliance man-
ager’s ultimate goal: superior business results for the
partnership. Sponsored by Eli Lilly & Co.
28n 2014ASAP GLOBAL
ALLIANCE SUMMIT PREVIEW
JoinUsatOurPlaceintheSun
The Alliance Management Community
Will Gather and “Pass the Talking Stick” in
Arizona This March
By Michael Burke
This year’s ASAP Global Alliance
Summit will bring together
alliance management profess-
ionals and thought leaders from
around the world to convene in
Scottsdale, Ariz., March 10–13,
for the best in alliance manage-
ment programming, professional
development, and networking
opportunities—not to mention
desert sun, outdoor and indoor fun, all-new conference tracks
and sessions, and—a marshmallow contest?

8. Quarter1,2014
Themagazineof the
AssociationofStrategicAllianceProfessionals
8 Strategic Alliance Magazine
ASAPEXECUTIVECOMMITTEE
RussBuchanan,CSAP
ASAPChairmanoftheBoard
VicePresident,WorldwideAlliances,
XeroxCorp.
JackPearson,CSAP
ASAPViceChairman
ManagingDirector&ChiefAllianceOfficer,
AllianceDevelopmentInternational,LLC
HarryAtkins,CSAP
ASAPTreasurer
SeniorDirector,CorporateDevelopment,
Dr.Reddy’sLaboratories,Inc.
BrianHandley,CA-AM
ASAPSecretary
BusinessDevelopment,EmersonCorp.
ChristineCarberry,CSAP
Chairman,ASAPKnowledgeBase&
ResearchCommittee
VicePresident,Program&Alliance
Management,EnVivoPharmaceuticals
SnehalDesai,CA-AM
Chairman,ASAPMarketingCommittee
GlobalMarketingDirector,
TheDowChemicalCompany
GrifMorrel,CSAP
Chairman,ASAPChapterPresidents’Council
SeniorManager,SalesBusinessDevelopment
andOperations,CiscoSystems,Inc.
AlistairPim,CSAP
Chairman,ASAPProfessional
DevelopmentCommittee
VicePresident,GlobalStrategicAlliances,
SchneiderElectric
JanTwombly,CSAP
Chairman,ASAPProgramsCommittee
President,TheRhythmofBusiness,Inc.
Strategic Alliance Magazine is published quarterly. Publisher
is The Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals,960
TurnpikeStreet,Canton,MA02021,+1-781-562-1630.Sub-
scriptionsare$99foroneyear,$189fortwoyears.Canadian
subscriptions are $149 per year. All other international sub-
scriptions are $199 (using air mail). Subscription inquiries:
+1-781-562-1630. Periodicals postage is paid in Chicopee,
MA,andadditionalmailingoffices.Postmaster:Sendaddress
changestoSTRATEGICALLIANCEMAGAZINE,960Turnpike
Street,Canton,MA02021.Copyright2013,TheAssociationof
StrategicAllianceProfessionals.Nopartofthispublicationmay
bereproduced,storedinanyretrievalsystem,ortransmittedin
anyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,photocopy-
ing,recording,orotherwise,withoutthepriorwrittenpermis-
sionofthepublisher.Forreprints,pleasecontactTheAssocia-
tionofStrategicAllianceProfessionalsat+1-781-562-1630.
50n THECLOSE
CollaborationforSmarties
As Collaboration Sweeps Through the World of Business,
What Does the Future Hold for the Profession of Alliance Management?
By John W. DeWitt
Next issue’s main feature will attempt to foretell what the future
of the alliance management profession has in store. Here is a sneak
peek at some of the insights shared by a few of the alliance
community’s brightest thought leaders.
45n ALLIANCE CHAMPION
AlliancesUndertheHood
Keith Gamble Uses a Mix of Technical Savvy and People Skills to Bring Big IT Players
Together and Drive EMC’s Technology Alliances to the Finish Line |ByMichaelBurke
Keith Gamble of EMC has parlayed a
technical background as an engineer into a
decade-long career as senior alliances
manager at the Massachusetts-based IT firm.
In the context of his job, the art and science
of alliance management involves blending
technological know-how and “counseling”
skills to get everyone working together to
drive joint solutions forward.
41n YOURCAREER
InfluencingWithoutAuthority
Even Without the Power to Command,
an Alliance Manager Can Elicit Positive
Actions from Others for the Benefit of
the Partnership|ByJonLavietes
The ability to influence people within
one’s own organization and at partner
companies is one of the alliance
professional’s most important skills.
At any given time, an alliance manager
might turn to a champion, a committee,
or a good old-fashioned sales pitch to
nudge people to serve the partnership’s interests.
inthisissue

9. For more information on Vantage Partners contact us at:
+ 1 617 354 6090 | info@vantagepartners.com
Vantage Partners is the world’s leader in
helping companies achieve breakthrough
business results by transforming the way
they negotiate and manage relationships
with key business partners.
Culture People
OrganizationalS
tructure
M
e
thodology
Alliance Portfolio
Management
Individual Alliance
Management
Strategy
Results

10. TheASAPHandbookofAllianceManagement:APractitioner’sGuide, 3rd edition, is
the only compendium of alliance management practices, principles, and current professional
standardsthatputs alltheinformationyouneedinoneunique,indispensableresource.
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-newmaterial,includinganewsectiononemerging
topicsinalliancemanagement
For your career, your alliances, and your company’s
alliance management practice, you can’t affordtobewithout
TheASAPHandbookofAllianceManagement:APractitioner’sGuide.
ORDERYOUR COPYTODAY*
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DiscountCode=handbook-14q1
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11. 11Quarter 1, 2014
With pharma companies outsourcing
more and more critical clinical and
nonclinical development work every
year to CROs, the kinds of relation-
ships that make up Covance’s bread and
butter are taking on a greater element
of strategic partnership, more intimate
and intertwined than traditional, purely
transactional relationships.
“Today clients seek partners who offer
anticipatory thinking, deliver insight-
ful solutions, and operate as a seamless
extension of their own team,” said John
Watson, president of strategic partner-
ing and chief commercial officer for
Covance. “Our goal is to deliver this
type of consultative and collaborative
experience to every client, whether large
pharma or emerging biotech, with every
interaction. ASAP’s extensive resources
will further enhance our existing al-
liance management capabilities and
help us establish and expand enduring
relationships with all our clients.”
Covance is a full-service drug devel-
opment company, with capabilities
spanning both early- and late-stage
development. In addition to helping de-
velop 46 of the 50 top-selling drugs, and
82 percent of all FDA-approved drugs
in 2012, Covance has also pioneered the
design of landmark alliances between
CROs and the pharmaceutical industry.
“Across the biopharmaceutical industry,
pipelines are becoming increasingly
dependent on partnerships, particularly
in the clinical phases of the drug devel-
opment cycle,” said Michael Leonetti,
president and CEO of ASAP. “Compa-
nies like Covance turn to ASAP to pro-
vide their personnel access to the tools,
training, and networking opportunities
with the profession’s most respected
thought leaders that will ensure their
collaborations achieve the organization’s
most pressing objectives. We are proud
to play an important role in helping
Covance maintain its successful hand-
in-hand customer relationships.”
The company is already making the
most of its ASAP membership in a
number of ways. It is significantly
increasing the number of professionals
certified in current alliance manage-
ment practices and methodologies,
sending its personnel to leading global
ASAP events such as the ASAP Bio-
Pharma Conference and ASAP Global
Alliance Summit, and providing repre-
sentation on ASAP’s board to help chart
the direction of the organization and
the profession. In addition, as an ASAP
Global Member, Covance will have the
opportunity to add executives from its
partner organizations to its member-
ship roster, thereby giving them access
to the plethora of ASAP benefits and
resources, including Strategic Alliance
Magazine, which profiled Covance vice
president of alliance management Andy
Eibling in the Q4 2013 issue, and Co-
vance’s alliance program in the Member
Spotlight feature of the Q4 2012 edition.
ASAP News
TheSummit’sAlmost
Here—Don’tDelay!
Registration for the 2014 ASAP Global
Alliance Summit continues—but it’s
nearly here, so if you haven’t registered
yet, now’s the time. From March 10 to
13, 2014, hundreds of alliance manage-
ment professionals and thought leaders
from all over the world will descend
on the Phoenix area to convene at the
Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale, Ariz.,
for this annual must-attend event, by far
the world’s largest annual gathering of
leading companies and practitioners in
the field of alliance management. (See
Summit Preview, page 28.)
The 2014 Summit will feature the usual
top-notch programming, world-class
networking, and professional de-
velopment opportunities, including
certification workshops and hands-
on skill-building sessions. This year,
however, the Summit will be enhanced
with all-new content, including an
introduction to alliance management
workshop led by some of the profession’s
pioneers from Eli Lilly and Company, a
ASAP Welcomes Covance as a
New Global Member
By Jon Lavietes and Michael Burke
THE CONTRACT RESEARCH ORGANIZATION (CRO) Covance, an ASAP Corporate
Member for several years, has sharpened its alliance game and moved up to Global Member
status, reflecting the company’s deep commitment to close collaborations with its customers,
which range from large, global pharmaceutical companies and well-established biotechs to
smaller, emerging biopharma organizations.
CollaborativeBuzz

12. 12 Strategic Alliance Magazine
half-day track covering issues in channel
management, informal “un-conference”
sessions, the First Annual Marshmallow
Challenge, and much more.
To register for the Summit or for more
information, go to www.strategic-alli-
ances.org/summit.
NewCorporateMembers
ComeOnboard
ASAP is delighted to announce that the
following new Corporate Members have
joined the ASAP community:
360incentives
Becton Dickinson (BD)
Plantronics
SunGard Public Sector
Uprise Co. Ltd
Welcome to all our new members!
ASAP and
ASAP Partner
Events
2014ASAPGlobal
AllianceSummit
Monday, March 10 – Thursday, March
13, 2014, Talking Stick Resort, 9800 E.
Indian Bend Rd., Scottsdale, Ariz., USA
(check www.strategic-alliances.org/sum-
mit for more information)
Alliance News
PeugeotandGM:
ProgressorRegress?
As 2013 came to an end, PSA Peugeot
Citroen (PSA) and General Motors
(GM) announced “further steps” in
their ongoing strategic alliance. It’s a
matter of opinion, however, whether
recent moves represent a continuing
forward march or a hasty retreat.
The two companies’ joint press release
stated that the “Alliance remains struc-
tured around the main pillars of joint
programs, purchasing, and logistics, fo-
cused on Europe, and is extended into
cross manufacturing.” It also confirmed
“continued cooperation” on two vehicle
programs based on Peugeot platforms:
the B-MPV (multipurpose vehicle)
and C-CUV (crossover-utility vehicle)
programs. It was further noted that
each company will build one vehicle for
the other—the B-MPVs in GM’s plant
in Zaragoza, Spain, and the C-CUVs in
Peugeot’s plant in Sochaux, France.
However, a Reuters report stated that
the move represented a scaling back of
the alliance, and in effect, GM was put-
ting “a brave face on yet another setback
for its efforts to seek growth in Europe
through collaboration and partner-
ships.” The report further noted that the
two companies have canceled one joint
vehicle project and said that “annual
savings from sharing development costs
on a raft of projects will now come to
only $1.2 billion, rather than $2 billion.”
One industry analyst quoted by Reuters
opined that “joint ventures always start
with overly ambitious targets,” adding
that he estimated joint savings for Peu-
geot and GM to amount to zero.
“Partnerships can work, but it always
takes much longer for the benefits to
materialize,” the analyst added.
The companies’ joint release said that
Peugeot and GM “will simplify the joint
governance of the Alliance and remove
as a ground for terminating the Alliance
the failure to achieve a minimum num-
ber of cooperation programs within a
specific time. They will also provide for
a waiver of GM’s right to terminate the
Alliance under certain conditions in
the event certain parties take a stake in
PSA, in which case such parties would
support the Alliance and GM would
vote any PSA shares it would then hold
in favor of any such transaction.”
“The Alliance between PSA and GM
is based on a balanced approach.
The vehicles of both manufacturers
will be highly differentiated and fully
consistent with their respective brand
characteristics,” said Dr. Karl-Thomas
Neumann, GM executive vice president
and president, Europe. “The partners
are now focused on execution of the
Alliance while remaining open to new
opportunities.”
Still together, but thinking of seeing
other people?
DosCervezas,PorFavor:
BeerBattlesBrewingin
Guatemala
Two of the world’s largest beer compa-
nies are set to do battle for the hearts,
minds, and palates of Guatemala’s
cerveza drinkers, according to the
Global Post.
Thebiggestbrewer,Anheuser-Busch
InBev,hasbeen“besieging”Guatemala’s
nationalbeermaker,CerveceríaCentro
Americana,“foryears,”theGlobalPost
reported.Now,SABMillerPlc,theworld’s
numbertwobrewer,andtheCervecería
haveannouncedthattheyareforminga
strategicallianceinGuatemala.
Initially, the Cervecería will distribute
only 355 ml bottles of Miller Genuine
Draft, but the agreement may expand
to include other Miller offerings. The
family-owned company, which has
struggled in recent years since its
Guatemalan monopoly was broken
in 2003 by the Brazilian division
of Anheuser-Busch InBev, report-
edly hopes to gain 20 to 25 percent of
Guatemala’s premium beer market. AB
InBev produces only one beer for the
Guatemalan market, Brahva, a cheaper
brew that competes with the Cer-
vecería’s Gallo beer. But AB InBev has
apparently been gaining market share
in the country, and the Cervecería’s
share of the market may have fallen to
70 percent since the breaching of its
former monopoly.
According to industry figures,
SABMiller is the third-largest brewer
in Latin America, behind AB InBev
and Heineken. The Global Post report
speculated that the Cervecería may be
counting on Miller as a “white knight”
that could use its “deep pockets and...
thick portfolio of brands” to shore up
the Guatemalan company’s weakened
CollaborativeBuzz

13. 13Quarter 1, 2014
position in its home country and resist
AB InBev’s assault.
Meanwhile, drink up, amigos—and
Salud!
Tequila!DiddyGets
theAllianceSpirit
While we’re on the subject of liquid
refreshment, premium drinks company
Diageo and rapper, producer, actor, and
entrepreneur Sean“Diddy”Combshave
created a new joint venture that has ac-
quired premium tequila brand DeLeón,
as reported by the Associated Press, New
York Post, Los Angeles Times, and liquor
industry sources. The JV, a 50/50 global
partnership between Diageo and Combs
Wine Spirits, builds on the separate
strategic alliance formed by Diageo and
Combs Enterprises to develop the Cîroc
vodka brand, noted for its neo–Rat
Pack TV ad campaign featuring Diddy
himself, a bevy of beauties, and a bunch
of well-dressed buds partying in Vegas to
the strains of Sinatra.
Since the alliance began in 2007,
according to liquor industry site The
Shout, Cîroc has grown from just
50,000 cases a year to nearly 2 million.
The acquisition of DeLeón will allow
the brand to benefit from Diageo’s
strong distribution network, supply
chain, and marketing capability, as
well as Diddy’s access to influencers
and track record of marketing luxury
lifestyle brands, according to Diageo.
Diageo described DeLeón as “a 100 per
cent [sic] blue weber agave boutique
tequila brand with a loyal following in
Hollywood and the U.S. music indus-
try.” The tequila has five variants with
suggested retail prices ranging from
$120 to over $1,000. Diageo cut its ties
with José Cuervo in 2012, so the Diddy
deal should help the company return to
a prominent position in North Ameri-
can tequila, according to Diageo North
America president Larry Schwartz.
Diddy, who has been the public face of
Cîroc since 2007, under a joint marketing
and profit-sharing deal that has brought
nearly a 40-fold rise in annual sales
volumes for the brand’s products, said in
aninterview,“WithCîroc,wedated.Now
with DeLeón, we’re married. This deal is
way better. This makes me a true owner.”
In a separate interview, Diddy said, “The
way I got introduced to [DeLeón] is that
every place that I would go...any cool, real
immersion type of spot, I would see it.
Then I was in the movies one day and I’m
watching Iron Man 2 and that’s all Iron
Man had behind his bar. And I was like,
‘This thing is calling me, man.’ I’ve always
had a dream to have a tequila. And I
always wanted to acquire a company...
this is a historic day for Sean Combs as a
businessman. Jay[Z] got Ace of Spades,
and today I got DeLeón. We up in here.
We went from buying, supporting, to
owning, you know?”
As to brand marketing for DeLeón,
Diddy said, “We’re taking our time, and
we’ll work together, and we’re going to
come up with a marketing plan. But
it’s going to be very surgical, it’s going
to be savvy, and it’s going to be totally
different from Cîroc. We’re not just
putting it on the assembly line.”
TheGame’sAfootforMerck
Big Pharma company and ASAP Cor-
porate Member Merck is working with
health gaming company Ayogo on a
Type 2 diabetes initiative that is actually
a game designed to benefit diabetes pa-
tients, according to a story in FierceBio-
techIT. In the game, dubbed the “Type
2 Travelers Project,” players create an
avatar for themselves and then complete
mini-games to win gold coins. The coins
allow users to advance to the next part
of the “world,” where more games and
more coins await them.
Interaction with the online diabetes
community is a key purpose of the
game, with players sharing their reasons
for wanting to control the disease. The
community aspect is also intended to
help combat depression, an unfortu-
nate aspect of dealing with diabetes, by
lessening players’ feelings of isolation.
“Our goal is to help diabetics get their
condition under control. Users feel like
they are getting gold for having fun but
really they get it for engagement,” said
Ayogo CEO Michael Fergusson in an
interview with MedCity News.
According to the FierceBiotechIT story,
biopharma companies have begun
looking at ways in which gamification
of treatments might improve patient
outcomes. Merck’s diabetes drug Januvia,
for example, is partly dependent on
patients’ sticking to the treatment regi-
men and managing other aspects of their
health. Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis,
and Sanofi have also reportedly con-
tacted Ayogo for help with gamification
projects, and Pfizer has recently signed a
deal with Boston start-up Akili Interac-
tive Labs to use a video game to diagnose
early signs of Alzheimer’s disease.
NiceMeetingYou—
Virtually,ThatIs
The meetings management division of
American Express, American Express
Meetings Events, is partnering with
webcast provider NASDAQ OMX Cor-
porate Solutions to provide clients with
virtual and hybrid meeting solutions,
according to SuccessfulMeetings.com.
The new offering, which is a bit of a
mouthful—officially called American
Express Meetings Events Multimedia
Solutions powered by NASDAQ QMX
Corporate Solutions—will connect
virtual and physical events by distribut-
ing live meeting content for companies
worldwide via webcasts and webinars,
online video content management,
venue and location services, planning
and logistics management, virtual meet-
ing executions, online meeting catalogs,
and production coordination. As a re-
sult, it’s intended that American Express
Meetings Events will be able to offer its
clients a one-stop shop for physical and
virtual meeting components.
“By combining American Express’s keen
understanding of how and when to
employ virtual elements with NASDAQ
OMX Corporate Solutions’ leading
multimedia solutions, meetings owners,
presenters, and attendees, both virtual

14. Strategic Alliance Magazine14
and physical, can improve the overall
effectiveness of meetings worldwide,”
said American Express Meetings
Events vice president and general man-
ager Issa Jouaneh. “Meetings organizers
are chall­enged to reach critical audi-
ences who do not attend in person. The
creation of a virtual meetings strategy
supported by policy can help compa-
nies identify the right opportunities to
deploy such tools to drive engagement,
reach a wider audience, capture content,
and achieve the greatest return on
investment and experience.”
DrugDeals:CVSand
CardinalHealthinSupply
ChainJV
There’splentyofwheelinganddealing
goingonintheglobaldrugwholesaling
business.Asreportedinthesepagespre-
viously,AmerisourceBergenhasalready
partneredwithWalgreenandSwissdrug-
storechainAllianceBoots;andMcKesson
tried,butapparentlyfailed,tobuythe
GermandrugwholesalerCelesio.Now,
CardinalHealthhasallieditselfwithCVS
Caremark,thelargestpharmacyprovider
intheUnitedStates,accordingtoReuters,
Bloomberg,andothersources.
Cardinal and CVS aim to create an
equal partnership to source generic
drugs, which will officially launch on
July 1, 2014. The goal is for the two to
buy drugs more cheaply, with a joint
announcement saying that they “will
collaborate with generic manufacturers
to develop innovative supply chain and
purchasing strategies.”
One analyst told Reuters that “this JV
will likely be one of the largest global
buyers of generics on the planet now.”
Another analyst, meanwhile, told
Bloomberg that the deal should save the
two companies between $450 million
and $600 million a year.
“The topic du jour is finding friends
along the drug supply chain and look-
ing for ways to add value,” said Jennifer
Lynch, an analyst with BMO Capital
Markets, in an interview with Bloom-
berg. “You’re taking two parts of the
supply chain and putting them together
and we’re hopeful it also allows them
in some way, shape, or form to get
creative on the delivery side as well in
terms of finding efficiencies.”
It’saCarpet,andanLED
Light:PhilipsandDesso
TaketheFloor
ASAP Corporate Member Royal Philips
has announced a partnership agreement
with carpet maker Desso to develop
solutions that combine LED lighting
with light-transmissive carpet. The idea
behind this innovation is to further
unlock the potential of LED integration
into surfaces and add a little excitement
to interior design and space planning, the
companies said in a statement. The solu-
tion aims to transform the way people
interact with information and their
environment in offices, hotels, conference
centers, and other public buildings.
The LED light-emitting carpets
should provide benefits in the areas
of information, direction, inspiration,
and safety, such as guiding people
around buildings and toward safety
exits; enhancing the interior ambiance
of buildings by combining lighting and
carpeting with design and color; and
helping to declutter spaces by making
information visible only when needed.
The partnership is an agreement to work
exclusively together in developing the
markets in EMEA. In addition, a joint
development agreement has been signed
focusing on a seamless integration of the
solution into new and existing build-
ings. The product name will be revealed
in 2014 as part of the full go-to-market
launch, but Philips and Desso say they
are already working on pilot projects in
key markets.
LillyPartners
withProjectA.L.S.
ASAP Global Member Eli Lilly and
Company has entered into an agreement
with the nonprofit Project A.L.S. to
accelerate the development of potential
therapies for amyotrophic lateral scle-
rosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s
disease. As part of the agreement,
Project A.L.S. will study molecules
developed and studied preclinically
by Lilly scientists for the treatment of
cancer to assess their potential in the
treatment of ALS.
Research by Project A.L.S., a nonprofit
aligned with leading academic medi-
cal institutes and key opinion leaders
across the globe, and led by Columbia
University professors Tom Maniatis and
Thomas Jessell, has uncovered novel
data that identified a critical role in ALS
disease progression for several inflam-
matory signaling pathways that are also
known to be associated with cancer.
“The evidence demonstrating a potential
role for these cancer-signaling pathways
in the progression of ALS is compelling,”
said Dr. Greg Plowman, vice president
of oncology research at Lilly. “Lilly will
provide well-characterized and selective
molecules that we hope will help acc­
elerate the development of medicines
for ALS.”
Under the terms of the partnership,
Project A.L.S. will select and screen
molecules in Lilly’s oncology pipeline to
establish whether these molecules show
any therapeutic potential for ALS and
inflammation. The financial terms of the
deal were not disclosed.
GoodHandsPeople:
AllstateandINGinAlliance
forAnnuities
The Allstate Corporation and ING U.S.
announced in December a strategic alli-
ance that will enable Allstate to offer a full
suite of fixed annuity product offerings
issued by ING Companies to Allstate
customers. The fixed annuity products
are issued by ING USA Annuity and Life
Insurance Company and ING Life Insur-
ance and Annuity Company.
“When Allstate Financial announced in
July that we would no longer issue fixed
annuities after 2013, we began searching
Continuedonpage38
CollaborativeBuzz

15. $3.7billioninrevenues
22,500employees
More than 100 partnerships and alliances
More than 10 global strategic alliances
UnisysinaFlash
Quarter 1, 2014 15
A Revamped Alliance Practice
Has Unisys Taking a Longer-Term, Strategic
Approach to Partnerships
ByJonLavietes
WHEN DAN MURPHY TOOK OVER Unisys’s strategic alliances practice in early 2013, the
technology industry was well into a major shift. Unisys, as it turns out, had completed a major
transformation as well.
The company had successfully
transitioned through a period of
financial stabilization and port-
folio rationalization designed
to capture emerging market op-
portunities and grow. Its alliance
team needed to shift its philoso-
phy to keep up with this ever-rapid pace of change.
Prior to Murphy’s joining, the strategic alliance department was
organized to support the needs of the Unisys business units,
with a focus on product/solution portfolio enablement and
field sales engagement. The alliance team was managed with a
business unit–centric philosophy, which at times led to partner
relationships that didn’t fully leverage organizational/product
capabilities that cut across multiple Unisys business units.
Over the past year, Unisys has transformed its alliance func-
tion to align across all business units and focus on strategic
revenue growth. The company’s alliances are organized into
four categories: 1) resellers, 2) technology/service partners,
3) go-to-market partners, and 4) truly strategic allies. As vice
president of global alliances, Murphy (pictured above) em-
phasizes the last two categories, which he said encompass “the
most relevant strategic alliance partners that can get us, and
our customers, to the next level”—often global companies that
can significantly advance Unisys’s
current and future product road-
map and revenue goals. Rather
than report to individual busi-
ness units, his team reports to the
company’s worldwide marketing
organization. This allows the team
to take a broader strategic view of its alliances than in the past.
“If you’re organized by [business unit], and you’re focused on
field-to-field, deal-based, quarter-by-quarter [execution] to
drive opportunities, you’re really thinking about how to make
something happen now versus how do I make something big-
ger happen in the future? It’s important, for sure, but you may
not be able to effectively create a longer-term revenue growth
strategy that benefits both the company and the alliance part-
ner. Also, you’re duplicating resources across business units,”
he said. “All of that gets eliminated when you bring the team
together and take a global view, and you build processes and
templates and all of the things you are doing across partners
are done in a consistent way.”
AThree-WayAlignment
According to Murphy, there are three keys to putting this phi-
losophy into practice—partner, market, and organizational
alignment. From a partner perspective, Murphy cites five
ABroader,MoreAlignedView
R E G U L A R F E A T U R E
spotlight
member
ABroader,MoreAlignedView

16. Allianceandbusiness
collaborationprofessionals
willbewingingtheirway
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Toregisterandformoreinformation go to
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Thealliance
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thatisessentialfor
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17. critical components for getting allies on the same page:
1. Complementary goals,
2. Agreed-upon metrics,
3. Jointly developed action plans for achieving those metrics
(e.g., revenue, pipeline, expansion into new markets, etc.),
4. Milestones, and
5. A shared investment to which both companies contribute.
Attaining market alignment tests the strategic vision of each
partnership’s appointed leader. Unisys’s partner ecosystem
includes longtime IT stalwarts, such as Amazon, BMC, Dell,
EMC, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, NetApp, SAP, and others. For a
company that delivers a wide variety of software, hardware,
and outsourcing services and solutions to customers in trans-
portation,government,financialservices,andotherindustries,
these allies are critical to serving Unisys’s customer base.
The processes, governance structures, and expectations associ-
ated with each of these partnerships are already well developed
and have been refined over time. However, moving forward
Unisys is placing bets on growth opportunities in emerging
disruptive technology areas, such as cloud, cybersecurity, big
data, mobility, and social media, and each of these areas rep-
resents ripe opportunities for partners, old and new. The orga-
nization is challenging each alliance leader to come up with a
growth initiative that could either build on the existing partner
base or involve an emerging player.
“How you develop new solutions in each of these growth envi-
ronments will determine which partners you need to be with,
whether it’s your current portfolio, or whether it’s new compa-
nies. And we have a mix of both,” said Murphy.
This dynamic could affect how resources are allocated across
Unisys’s alliance portfolio, according to Murphy.
“Let’s say we’re partnering with [a global corporation that is new
to Unisys], and another partner we had is a major competitor,
and that partner didn’t necessarily play in the new technology.
You then might have some decisions on how to manage your
portfolio and invest in one area, and divest in another, or seg-
mentthemarketinawaythatprovidesbenefitsforboth,”hesaid.
Finally, organizational alignment is achieved if and when Uni-
sys’s and the partner’s overarching goals are in unison.
“What is the Unisys corporate strategy? How does the part-
ner’s strategy fit with Unisys’s strategy? Do we have similar
markets that we are trying to attack together? Can we build
plans to go to market together?” explained Murphy. If the
bigger-picture objectives match up, the partner organizations
then have to align the aspirations of the partners’ respective
marketing, sales, product, and channel divisions with the alli-
ance’s action plans in a similar fashion.
TheMetricSystem
Each Unisys alliance is judged by metrics that correspond to
the alliance’s particular goals. In 2014, Murphy said, the com-
pany will adopt many of the metrics included in The ASAP
Handbook of Alliance Management. Although the metrics dif-
fer by partnership, they fall into four general categories:
1. Financial – revenue (from sell-through, sell-to, and sell-with
collaborations), pipeline, joint sales
2. Go-to-market – success stories, references, press releases,
trade shows and events, white papers, webcasts, brochures
3. Shared investment – market development funds, co-op
funds, nondollar/in-kind benefits (training hours, equip-
ment, jointly attended trade shows), real dollar investments
(i.e., partner-funded specific activities)
4. Governance – quarterly business reviews, executive-to-
executive meetings with senior officials “of interest” (read:
high-ranking), partner status/level at the partner organiza-
tion (e.g., “Gold” Oracle PartnerNetwork certification)
While it is widely accepted within the alliance management
community that success stories and references are key, Murphy
stressed that the other metrics in the “go-to-market” category
are equally essential to achieving the goals of a collaboration.
“They are all really designed to increase awareness of the value
of the partnership, to drive interest, and to generate a qualified
lead, which actually winds up in the sales pipeline,” he said.
In addition to these partnership-level metrics, Murphy has in-
stituted one designed to enhance his team’s knowledge of the
sales cycle and competitive differentiation.
“I am going to ask each one of our alliance leaders to actively
engage with our business unit teams to participate in at least
one full end-to-end deal in 2014,” he said. This may include
creating and implementing a program, generating and quali-
fying a lead, putting it into the sales cycle, working with the
Unisys and/or partner sales reps to pursue the opportunity,
participating in relevant sales calls, crafting necessary propos-
als and collateral, and closing the deal itself. “The reason why I
want my team to participate in that end-to-end cycle is so that
they stay close to what our partners are seeing, what our field is
seeing, and what our customers are demanding.”
BatterUp:GettingAllianceManagersto
SwingfortheFences
While Murphy’s sales cycle objective is aimed at helping his
team keep an eye on the micro level, his bigger plan is to make
sure they are actively painting Unisys’s big picture, too. Fortu-
nately, Murphy has found that Unisys’s corporate culture will
allow the alliance team not only to make an impact, but also to
be recognized for their contributions.
Continuedonpage39
Quarter 1, 2014 17

18. 18 Strategic Alliance Magazine18 Strategic Alliance Magazine
AMatter
ofPerspective
MisalignedPressReleases
andRogueMediaStatementsCan
MakeforPublic-FacingCrises
inanAlliance
ByJonLavietes

19. 19Quarter 1, 2014
Press releases, news articles, and miscellaneous commentary in
various public forums can often be breeding grounds for your al-
liance’s next crisis. Consider these far-from-unusual hypothetical
scenarios:
n A partner issues a press release announcing a partnership with
a competitor without giving you a heads-up prior to its crossing
the wire
n A partner distributes an announcement specifically about your
alliance without seeking your approval
n Your partner commits a major mishap involving your joint of-
fering, which ultimately affects your organization’s brand
n An influential analyst or an opinion columnist from a major
news outlet spreads a rumor or otherwise speculates openly
about one of your alliances
n A senior executive from a partner organization makes either
misleading or disparaging remarks about your company
NoAllianceManagementPrinciples=Chaos
Situationsliketheseareevenhardertocontainifalliancemanage-
ment principles are not applied to these collaborations. In his role
spearheading government relations and external affairs for health
care technology company Abiomed several years ago, Ed Berger,
director of Larchmont Strategic Advisors and a member of the
advisory board for the PR firm Harris Communications Group,
served as the de facto alliance manager for Abiomed’s partner-
ship with six hospitals and their respective heart surgeons and PR
department heads around a clinical trial of its groundbreaking
AbioCor product, the world’s first completely self-­contained re-
placement heart. The AbioCor trials were being followed closely
by almost all of the world’s most influential news outlets, and a
number of the hospitals and physicians were at least in part mo-
tivated by the opportunity to enhance their visibility and reputa-
tions. Thus, there were several instances of participating hospitals
issuing unauthorized press releases, and doctors leaking con-
fidential patient information through interviews that were not
sanctioned by the appointed joint PR team.
“Cardiothoracic surgeons as a class believe they are next to God,”
said Berger, describing the difficulty he had keeping certain person-
alities toeing the partnership’s line. “They are used to making on-
the-flydecisionsanddon’teasilyaskpermission.Itwasveryhard[to
prevent rogue behavior within the AbioCor alliance].”
As Berger recounted the AbioCor initiative, one got the sense that
Abiomed did not employ formal partner selection methods. At the
very least, Berger wished he had been more proactive in identifying
potential loose cannons at the outset of the relationship.
“Thisgoesfromassessingthecharacterandqualityofyourpartner’s
media group, [to] the personality of the physician and the goals of
your partner organization. That wasn’t going to be foolproofed, but
in retrospect—you can do the analysis retrospectively—you can say
itwasabsolutelypredictablewhichhospitalwouldbemuchbetterat
controllingtheinformation,keepingtotheagreement,andwhether
aparticulardoctorwasmorelikelytogooffthereservation,”hesaid.
And if an alliance manager has not properly set up the operat-
ing model (governance, protocols, rules of escalation, etc.), or
succeeded in preventing the organization from bypassing it, dis-
putes not only get out of hand, they get resolved in the less-than-
collaborative fashion that is not exactly preferred in the alliance
management community.
In a previous life heading up corporate marketing for a $2 billion–
plus IT services provider, John DeSarbo, managing principal of
channel strategy and management practice at sales and marketing
consultancy ZS Associates, witnessed several instances of partners’
purposefully“goingrogue.”Inoneexample,theITservicesfirmhad
two strategic partners that were fierce competitors. One of the two
partnerscoercedtheITserviceprovider’sdatacentermanagertobe
quoted in a case study touting its offerings as superior to its com-
petitor’s in exchange for free products for that data center manager’s
lab. In this instance, it was critically important that the IT service
provider not publicly express a preference for one partner’s prod-
ucts over the other’s. Unfortunately, the offending partner bypassed
the alliance manager, communications department, and corporate
marketing team, and the case study ultimately made its way to the
partner’s Web site.
Needless to say, DeSarbo and the firm’s management were in-
censed—so much so that the company’s CEO reached out person-
ally to his counterpart at the partner on a Friday to tell him, “‘If you
Quarter 1, 2014
FEW WOULD DISPUTE THAT JUST ABOUT ANY ALLIANCE will come with unforeseen
challenges and tense moments over its lifespan. Fighting fires is tough enough internally, so
imagine how much harder it is when the rough patches in your partnership become visible to
the public at large.
“Inretrospect,itwasabsolutelypredictable
whichhospitalwouldbemuchbetterat
controllingtheinformation,keepingtothe
agreement,andwhetheraparticulardoctor
wasmorelikelytogooffthereservation.”

20. Stuart Kliman, CA-AM, founding
partner at Vantage Partners.
Brooke Paige, CSAP, principal of
7ContinentsCollaboration.
Strategic Alliance Magazine20
don’t pull that case study off your Web site and discontinue all as-
sociatedmarketing,wewillendthealliancebyendofdayMonday,’”
recalled DeSarbo. The case study was indeed removed, but those
were not the only consequences. “I’m sure someone lost their job
after that stunt,” he added.
TempersFlaring?TimetoCoolEveryoneOff
When situations like this arise, an alliance manager has a lot of
communicating to do internally and externally. Placating your C-
level executives can go a long way in rectifying the situation.
“It can be like the Marx Brothers at first. But when the senior man-
agement team was calm, everybody else could be called to be calm,”
said Sean Andrews, managing partner at the public and investor
relations firm Credible Strategic Advisors.
Regardlessofwhetherseniormanagementisinvolvedintheresolu-
tion,thingscanspinoutofcontrolquicklyiftheallianceprofession-
als do not act fast. According to Stuart Kliman, CA-AM, founding
partneratVantagePartners,onedoesnotneedahigh-levelbusiness
manual to figure out what to do first.
“I don’t think it’s super complicated. The alliance manager needs to
call his co–alliance manager [at the partner company] and treat the
issue as a joint problem to be resolved, caused by some kind of con-
fusion about what is the agreed process or protocol,” he said. “You
[also] have to try to see what kind of impact the announcement is
having on people internally, and try to help manage that impact,
makingsureitdoesn’tspinoutofcontrolandgetworse.Youhaveto
make sure people internally aren’t starting to call others externally,
yelling or in any way contributing to any kind of undisciplined es-
calation.
“You likely also need to help [your internal colleagues] understand
thewaysinwhichthingslikethiscanhappenwithoutintent,regard-
less of impact—to see it as a result of confusion or lack of discipline
rather than malevolence, planned for, or in an intentional effort to
go violate a well-understood agreement,” said Kliman.
“Whenyou’retalkingthroughapartnershiporalliance,it’srelatively
safe when discussions are behind closed doors. When news of the
alliance gets to the public, it suddenly gets real for a lot of people,”
said DeSarbo.
But as one might guess, it is imperative not to act rashly because
you may find out that either your organization was partly at fault,
or there was a reasonable misunderstanding on the partner’s part.
“When a PR crisis occurs, I work to focus on the facts,” said Brooke
Paige, CSAP, principal of the Boston-based consultancy 7Conti-
nentsCollaboration.“Itisimportanttoverifyhowandtowhomthis
information may have been communicated in your organization.
You may personally have been surprised by this news, but is it pos-
sible someone else in your organization may have already known
about it at one point?”
“Sometimes there are missed expectations between two partners as
to how PR is going to be handled. Sometimes it’s just poor planning
that leads to challenges,” said DeSarbo.
GetDucksinaRow,butDon’tLeaveYour
PartnerFloatingAimlesslyinthePond
If you can indeed verify that your side is not at fault, you will ob-
viously have to align your organization before sharing your plans
for dealing with the situation with the partner. But that does not
mean it is best to keep your ally waiting indefinitely. After all, you
do not want rogue communication to fester among your partner’s
team because they are being kept in the dark.
“Oftentimes when there is some sort of PR situation that has oc­­
c­urred, partners may choose to hold that information quite closely.
They will err on the side of not discussing it with the partner be-
cause they want to make sure they have an internal decision on
whatactiontotakebeforetheycommunicate,”saidPaige.“Iactually
encourage them to reach across to [their respective] partners right
away and let them know what has happened, and that they are hav-
ingaseriesofinternalmeetingstodiscussit. Itisimportantthatthe
partnerknowswhenadecisionwillbemadeonwhatactiontotake.”
As the alliance team evaluates the potential ramifications of the
situation, assessing whether and how to involve senior leadership
is a true test of alliance management skills.
“This is just another example of where alliance management is
an art based on science,” said Paige. “My rule of thumb is if it
“Youhavetomakesurepeople
internallyaren’tstartingtocallothers
externally,yellingorinanyway
contributingtoanykindof
undisciplinedescalation.”

21. John DeSarbo, managing principal
of channel strategy and management
practice at sales and marketing
consultancy ZS Associates.
21Quarter 1, 2014
is something that will impact the
structure of the deal in its nature,
you are absolutely going to want
to communicate to the CEO
about that. If it could shift the
structure of your agreement in
some way, if it could impact your
ability to access the resources that
you needed out of the deal, you
are going to want to communicate
that to your organization.”
And while the experiences Paige
outlined are specific to biopharma,
alliance management tools are
critical to managing the situation,
regardlessofindustry.Klimanissuedthereminderthatthegovernance
structure, particularly the steering committee, is constructed for cir-
cumstances like this.
“Whatdoeachofthepartnersneedtobringbackintotheirbroaderor-
ganizations to make sure that the alliance is not negatively impacted?”
said Kliman, summarizing one of the primary purposes of the gov-
ernance committee meeting in this situation. “The alliance manager
shouldn’t be trying to do this alone. It’s a question of, how do we work
together?”
BalancingAllianceManagement
andCorporateCommunications’Interests
In many cases, a formal response, whether through a press release
and/or interviews with journalists and analysts, will be necessary.
While it is critical to contact the partner immediately to find out
what is going on, or to at least let them know when you will be tak-
ing action, you may need to take the opposite approach with report-
ers and analysts, depending on the situation. You do not necessarily
want to rush to answer a phone call from a news outlet until your
organization has developed appropriate messaging for its external
communication.
“At first, you don’t pick up the phone. You’re not reachable until you
canbecomealigned.Straybulletsaremoredangerousthanwell-aimed
bullets,” said Andrews.
It is common practice for companies to vet all media requests through
their corporate communications departments. It is also standard to
limit reporter access to approved organization spokespeople who have
been briefed on company messaging and formally “media trained” to
answer journalists’ and analysts’ questions. But as easy as that sounds,
people do not always exercise good judgment in a crisis.
Andrews recalled a story from his days managing investor relations for
Medicis Pharmaceutical in which several reporters showed up at the
company’s headquarters. One of the company’s vice presidents became
unnerved by the newspersons’ unexpected physical presence, insisting
ThePlaybookfor
CommonPRSnafus
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to dealing with an er­
r­ant press release or wayward external communication, but
certain situations tend to recur on the public-facing side of
alliances. A few experts talk about the common individual
scenariosthatcropuptobedevilalliancemanagers.
Situation: Partner Inks Deal with Competitor Without
Notifying Your Organization
“Personally, I have been in that position, and it’s horrible. It’s
theworstpossiblethingyoucouldexperiencebecausehere
you are trying to represent the alliance in the best terms to
your senior executives, and here you are just learning in real
time [about] something that can potentially cannibalize or
impact what you are expecting to get from that deal,”said
Paige.“If it’s a situation where you have a development plan
intheexactsameareawithanothercompany,andyouhave
atherapeuticproductcomingoutinthatsamecategory,we
just want to make sure that resources aren’t being taken off
ofonedealandallocatedtoanother.Wewouldaskthepart-
nertocommentonthat.”
Situation: Journalists and Analysts Spread Rumors
Not Based on Information from You or Your Partner
“You don’t want to be alarmist, but the role of the alliance
manager is to identify and mitigate risk, and look for addi-
tional value.When you hear things that could impact your
ability to do that in either direction, you are going to want
to consider it and potentially communicate it [to your PR
people],”said Paige.“There have been several times where
PR folks have said, ‘I’ve seen this come out in the news.
What do you think is fueling it? Because the last time we
checked with you and partner X, the facts of the situation
were very different.’”
“I will always say it’s a fool’s errand to comment [on] ru-
mors,” said Andrews. “I had [Wall Street analysts] actually
call me up about [a bogus rumor concerning a potential
acquisition].They said,‘This is the rumor.This [other] com-
pany commented [on a similar rumor]. Why don’t you
comment?’I said, ‘This is a perfect example. A week from
now when the rumor is they’re talking to another com-

22. that Medicis did not have a process for such a situation. Andrews
remindedhimthattheydid—allcommunicationshadtogothrough
then vice president of investor and public relations Kara Stancell,
now a fellow managing partner at Credible Strategic Advisors with
Andrews, and she was unavailable at the time.
“As soon as I said it, you could see the light bulb go off. We would
send corporate-wide reminders [of the corporate communications
policy] if something happened, positive [or] negative, but people
forget under pressure,” said Andrews. “Media were in the parking
lot, but our media spokesperson was unavailable.”
Just as important, alliance managers have to let the public relations
professionals do their jobs—and trust the PR team’s judgment.
When emotions are running high, people outside the corporate
communications department might assume the logical course of
action is to respond immediately with a public statement, but non-
action is frequently the better decision, particularly when it comes
to baseless rumors circulating in the press or analyst community.
“There’sjustsomuchnoiserightnow,alotoftimestheanswerisnot
to react quickly. Just let it sit. Then deal with the problems through
one-on-one discussions as opposed to broadcasting some sort of
response. Public responses have a way of fueling the flames,” said
DeSarbo. (See sidebar, “The Playbook for Common PR Snafus.”)
Of course, that does not mean that the alliance management team
should not give their input, nor is anyone implying that the corpo-
rate communications group should not consult the alliance man-
ager.AndrewsrecalledatimewhenMedicisdidnotwanttodisclose
information on a topic, but its smaller partner wanted publicity to
raise cash. Andrews and Stancell listened to the alliance manager,
andultimatelytothepartner,andthenworkedcarefullywithsenior
management to find a mutually acceptable solution.
“Wehadtofindawaytomarrythosetwointereststogether,”hesaid.
“We have to find some agreeable space somewhere where we can
minimize the [potential] damage perhaps, or maybe in that alliance
we come up with a solution that is so unique it actually sidesteps
both issues altogether.”
AnOunceofPrevention
AvertsanIntervention
Although an organization cannot eliminate the possibility of a pub-
lic relations mishap entirely, there are many ways to mitigate it.
“Thereneedstobeformalagreementbetweentwodifferentalliance
partners as to how an announcement will be approved. By whom?
What’sthegovernancearoundPR?Allofthatshouldbewritteninto
an alliance agreement,” said DeSarbo.
And where DeSarbo advises firms to address PR in their alliance
agreements,othersintheprofessionhavefoundthatclearoperating
principlescanguidetheallianceintheabsenceofcontractlanguage.
Ofcourse,thisputstheonusontheorganizationtofollowthesepro-
tocols.Yourcounterpartcouldbethedeterminingfactorinwhether
it will be able to bottle up rogue communication and unsanctioned
press releases.
“It depends on the remit of the other alliance manager. Is he or she
able to reach into other parts of the organization? By definition,
these impacts come from areas which are surprising—areas which
are beyond the initial circle of the alliance manager, probably,” said
Kliman. He added that the “alliance manager can reach out to those
broader areas and see if they can make them a little more aware of
the need to communicate with this partner before announcements
are coming down. I don’t think there’s any magic to it.”
Furthermore, according to Kliman, industries such as IT that have
seen these scenarios play out often should have no excuse for not
having prepared for this eventuality.
“Most alliance managers and most big companies, particularly IT
companies, would say, ‘Here is something we’ve learned over time
is a big issue. Let’s make sure as we start this new alliance we have a
wayofmanagingthat,’”hesaid.“Thenseparately,evenifyouhaven’t
done that, to the extent it happens once, it’s likely to happen twice.”
Insomerespects,thinkingofyourpartnersinyourPRdealingsgoes
well beyond the individual alliance managers and is an organiza-
tional culture issue.
“The issue is probably less one of the alliance manager, and more
of whether or not the organization itself has come to grips with the
fact that it depends on alliances to succeed, that it’s alliance-centric,
that a large part of its business model is working within the context
of this ecosystem—and generally having the leadership that is
constantly preaching the need to be thinking about these cross-
ecosystem impacts,” said Kliman.
PlantSeedsofTrust,
IdentifyBadSeedsEarly
Although no alliance practice or corporate communications team
could ever guarantee an alliance that is free from public-facing
crises, Stancell believed investing in the relationships among and
between each partner’s alliance managers and PR professionals
“Iwillalwayssayit’safool’serrandto
comment[on]rumors,”saidAndrews.
Strategic Alliance Magazine22
Experiencedalliancemanagerssay,“Hereis
somethingwe’velearnedovertimeisabig
issue.Let’smakesureaswestartthisnew
alliancewehaveawayofmanagingthat.”

23. 23Quarter 1, 2014
pany, and they in fact are, now they’re stuck because if they
don’t comment, they just commented.’”
Situation: Smaller Partner Publishes Case Study
Without Your Company’s Consent
“There was a small software company that was partnering
with our $2 billion–plus IT services firm to deliver a solu-
tion to our joint customer. The software company wrote
a case study describing that project and partnership with
our firm and posted it prominently on their Web site. After
a while, the customer became very frustrated and disen-
chanted with the software company and decided to re-
place the solution that was developed, but that [software]
company was still touting the success and the case study of
the work we’d done together. Essentially they were trying
to strengthen their brand by associating it with our brand
and the customer’s brand. The customer came to us and
said,‘We don’t want to promote this company on theirWeb
site. Can you help us remove this case study?’”said DeSarbo.
“In this case, a few phone calls to our alliance manager re-
solved the issue. The implication of us not working with
them again was a big enough stick to wave to get them to
take the case study off their site.”
Situation: Chief Executive of Partner Organization
Disparages You Publicly
“There’s always a reason why if there’s that sort of emotion
in describing a situation. It’s really our goal and our obliga-
tion to figure out what that is and fix it,” said Paige. “How
real is this? Is it a positioning issue? Is it a communication is-
sue?Whatistheunderlyingcauseofthatbreakdown?That’s
purelythealliancemanager’srole.Weneedtobecoordinat-
ing that and communicating the outcome.
“[The solution] might be as simple as communication
flow—making sure that the key people responsible for
that area in the organization have the information that they
need,”she continued.“For instance, maybe we took the ex-
pected action, but it wasn’t communicated in the way the
partner was looking for. Therefore, it wasn’t communicated
in the larger organization.That’s an important thing to point
out, especially in a dynamic where it’s a smaller company
working with a much larger global organization.”
built the chemistry needed to guide partnerships through tur-
bulent episodes of this nature. She said Medicis PR and alliance
executives would meet weekly with their respective counterparts
at partner organizations, even just to talk casually. If team mem-
bers happened to be traveling to the partner’s area for work, they
would make sure to spend the evening together while everyone
was in town.
“We would go out for dinner, drinks, whatever, just to catch up on
personal lives. We were friends. We were partners. And we trusted
each other with our particular communications,” she said. “We tried
to stay in front of that by having that one-on-one relationship with
that alliance manager.”
“By fostering those relationships, we were proactively building
bridges that when communications were—I hate to say breaking
down—but strained perhaps between the respective legal teams or
senior management, we always had an open door and could keep
things open and looped together,” said Andrews.
Although it was difficult to rein in the allies in the AbioCor partner-
ship, Berger was infinitely more successful in keeping his colleagues
from overreacting to each act of malfeasance.
“You earn compliance by effective performance and internal com-
munications over time. I never had in three years—and believe me
there were many people in various stages of upset over these kinds
of issues—I never once had those out-of-control rogue communi-
cations from my company’s personnel. The reason was that I had
given people good reason to believe that if they came and vented
to me, number one, I would make some reasonable communication
to try to fix things and I would get back to them. They weren’t left
hanging—that something bad had happened and there had been no
consequences. At the end of the day…they knew that the communi-
cation that they wanted to make in anger had been made, and they
heard what the result had been, and they realized that it hadn’t done
further damage to the relationship,” he said.
AllianceManagerasConductor
Although it is a safe bet the corporate communications depart-
ment will instantly jump into action when a problem press release
crosses the wire or a potentially harmful statement is made in the
press, alliance managers still need to be proactive and use their
core orchestrator skills.
“They need to identify the right people, figure out what conver-
sations need to be had among them, design those conversations,
facilitate those conversations to get the issue resolved. It’s very un-
likely that they will be the resolver. I think it will be very likely
that they will be the owner of the issue from an ensuring-it-gets-
resolved point of view,” said Kliman.
Indeed,it’samatterofperspective.Becausethesearecrisesthewhole
world can see. n

24. 24 Strategic Alliance Magazine
The
Control-Trust
DilemmaFinding the Right Balance
Makes It Easier to Arrive at an
Effective Alliance Design
By Ard-Pieter de Man
COMPANIES CAN ADOPT ONE OF
twobasicapproacheswhendesigningtheir
alliances: the control view and the trust
view. Figure 1 summarizes the two views by
reviewing the assumptions behind each, how
they define the key challenge for alliance design,
and their effect on the prescriptions provided for
how alliances should be designed.

25. FIGURE1:
Thecontrolandthetrust
approachtoalliancedesign
CONTROL
Alliance
assumption
Alliancedesign
challenge
Viewon
alliancedesign
Partnerslookoutfor
theirownself-interests
Conflictsofinterest
arelikelytoarise
Preventopportunism
Targetdriven
Valueappropriation
Rulebased;
detailedcontracts
Extrinsicmotivation
Strongsenior
managementcontrol
Partnersbenefitfroma
commoninterest
Jointgrowthanddevelopment
ensurelong-termalignment
Buildsocialcapital
Visiondriven
Valuecreation
Principlebased;norms
andvalues
Intrinsicmotivation
Seniormanagement
ascoach
TRUST
25Quarter 1, 2014
Inshort,[control-based]allianceshighly
relyonextrinsicmotivation:sticksandcarrots
guidetheallianceintherightdirection,notthe
personalresponsibilitythatsomeonefeels
tocontributetoit.
TheControlView:
TamingOpportunism
The control view makes the assumption that partners in
an alliance join the alliance because of their self-interest.
Therefore, they will see the alliance as a vehicle to pro-
mote their own good, without much regard for their
partner’s interests. The most important challenge in de-
signing alliances is to create safeguards against oppor-
tunistic behavior. This view of alliances was epitomized
by a controller of a pharmaceutical company, who de-
scribed his job in an internal alliance conference as, “I
am here to protect us from our partners.”
Opportunism in alliances may come in different
forms. Often, such actions are small, such as investing
slightly less time than the partner does, thus shifting
some of the burden to the partner. Sometimes such
actions are significant, as in the case of the Danone
and Wahaha joint venture. The two partners jointly
brought a Danone drink on the market in China.
Wahaha, however, took the Danone recipe and also
started to secretly produce the drink under its own
brand. This view of alliances underlines American
writer Ambrose Bierce’s definition of an alliance in
international politics from his notorious Devil’s Dic-
tionary as “the union of two thieves who have their
hands so deeply inserted in each other’s pockets that
they cannot separately plunder a third.” The possibility
that a partner will engage in opportunistic behavior
and free-riding based on self-interest defines the con-
trol view of strategic alliances.
This view leads to an emphasis on using formal mecha-
nisms in alliance design. The first element is defining
commonly agreed-on targets with a partner to ensure
that both partners are on the same page regarding what
theywanttoachieve.Makingthesetargetsmeasurableis
thefirstsafeguardagainstconflictsofinterest.Cleardefi-
nition of targets is important, and an extensive planning
and control system that measures deviations from the
plan, reports progress, and highlights areas for improve-
ment directly follows the target-setting process. Targets
may also be set for the inputs that both partners have
to deliver to the alliance to ensure that investments are
reasonably shared.
The focus on targets immediately raises the ques-
tion of how the benefits will be shared once a target
is achieved. Control-based alliances tend to have
detailed value appropriation mechanisms in place,
clarifying exactly which revenues and costs belong
to whom. This clarification is achieved by the use of
many detailed rules to govern the alliance. Elaborate
contracts are implemented to cover as many eventu-
alities as possible. An alliance may be open-ended by
definition, but the control view sees incomplete con-
tracts as a negative. The contractual space needs to be
reduced as much as possible to ensure that—in case of
a conflict—the solution to that conflict is completely
clear. Senior management up to the board level needs
to deal with any remaining issues during the course of
the lifetime of the alliance. Therefore, senior manage-
ment is closely connected to the alliance and provides
it with active guidance. If necessary, they will even in-
tervene in alliance operations to ensure that the com-
pany’s interests are well looked after.
To stimulate both sides to collaborate, their targets
are connected to bonuses and payoffs based on alli-
ance performance. Thus, control thinking extends to
the individuals who comprise the alliance. People are
rewarded when they behave in accordance with alli-
ance targets. In short, alliances highly rely on extrinsic
motivation: sticks and carrots guide the alliance in the
right direction, not the personal responsibility that
someone feels to contribute to it. Structures and sys-
tems are in the lead.

26. “Well, honestly, Doc… I’m not sure you can
help me with my trust issues.”
TheTrustView:BuildingSocialCapital
Whereas the control view departs from the self-interest
ofpartnersto join an alliance, the starting point for the
trust view is common interest. Although these are two
sides of the same coin, the implications for alliance
design are profound. The shift in focus from conflict
prevention to joint growth entails a completely dif-
ferent view of alliance design. As long as partners are
able to identify new opportunities for growth and de-
velopment, partners’ interests will be aligned and the
collaboration should be stable. To continually identify
these new opportunities, companies must get to know
each other, be willing to share their ideas and insights
openly, and foster a dynamic culture in the alliance.
Doing so requires a high level of social capital; that
is, people need to know and trust one another. In the
trust view, the challenge is to design an alliance that
fosters the social bonds between organizations that are
needed to build that social capital.
One way to build these bonds is by developing a joint
vision for the alliance. Rather than setting narrow tar-
gets, the concept is that companies discuss a broader set
of issues. Developing the vision for an alliance demands
that organizations exchange their views on long-term
developments in their market and how the alliance fits
into those views. These discussions enhance mutual un-
derstanding and provide greater certainty to a partner’s
intentions, thus reducing the chance that a partner takes
unexpected actions.
The emphasis on growth and development also leads
to an emphasis on value creation. By learning and in-
novating, an alliance can continue to add value to its
partners. The well-known distinction between shar-
ing and growing the pie applies. In the control view,
the emphasis is on sharing the pie; in the trust view,
the emphasis is on growing it. If the partners can en-
sure that the pie continues to grow, a natural incentive
exists for partners to stay in the alliance and to avoid
behaving opportunistically and killing the goose that
lays the golden eggs. Sufficient value is created for ev-
erybody to earn a living.
Because too many rules stifle innovation and creativity,
trust-based alliances do not define detailed regulations
for what should happen under certain circumstances.
Instead, they focus on behavior, such as how the part-
ners should behave when something happens that re-
quires their joint attention. In the design of alliances,
such an approach leads to an emphasis on norms and
values that support mutual adjustment. An increasing
number of alliances implement codes of conduct to that
effect. Instead of laying out detailed rules, the concept is
that an alliance is more flexible when it is based on cer-
tain principles that dictate how partners deal with one
another, rather than attempting to cover every possible
option in a lengthy contract.
This type of thinking also has an effect on the level of the
individualsworkinginalliances.Insteadofattemptingto
align their behavior using targets and bonuses, the trust
approachseekstocreateapsychologicalcontractwithan
individual. Through an appealing vision of what the al-
liance can mean in its market, employees are positively
motivatedtocontribute.Fun,recognition,andmeaning-
fulworktiethepartnercompaniestogetherthroughtheir
employees. An example is the Future Store Initiative, in
which 50 partners collaborated to build a supermarket
of the future. The vision was appealing for all involved.
The collaboration made room for a variety of new ideas
andexperiments,whichgeneratedenergyinthepartner-
ing companies and their employees. A memorandum of
understanding of only two pages was signed. The trust-
based mechanisms of joint vision, value creation, and
intrinsic motivation took care of the rest.
26 Strategic Alliance Magazine
Thistypeofthinkingalsohasaneffecton
theleveloftheindividualsworkinginalliances.
Insteadofattemptingtoaligntheirbehaviorusing
targetsandbonuses,thetrustapproachseeksto
createapsychologicalcontractwithanindividual.

27. 27Quarter 1, 2014
Eachapproachclearlyhasitslimits.…Inan
alliancethataimstocreateeconomiesofscale,
trustmaybeineffective.Inalliancesaimedat
innovation,controlwillbecounterproductive.
If an alliance succeeds in building social capital in this
way, elaborate planning and control processes are not
needed.Whenbothsidesofanallianceautomaticallydo
whatisintheirjointandindividualinterests,thealliance
should run smoothly. Senior management involvement
can be limited to a coaching role. For example, they can
help remove barriers to the alliance or think along with
alliance managers about next steps.
In short, the trust approach builds on the informal
elements of alliance design. It is able to do so given
the emphasis on growth and development that should
guarantee that the alliance is not only beneficial to the
partners at its inception, but also continues to add
value over time.
BalancingControlandTrust
Obviously, the previous description is somewhat black
and white in nature. Many shades of gray exist in be-
tween. However, that all alliances end up in the middle
is certainly not true. In fact, some alliances clearly de-
part from one perspective and have completely differ-
ent alliance designs than when the opposite point of
departure is taken.
Both alliance types can be successful. Control is not
necessarily better than trust or vice versa. Some people
have an instinctive preference for one or the other. Ac-
countants and lawyers tend to like the control approach;
entrepreneurs usually have a preference for the trust ap-
proach.However,therealissueistofindtherightdesign
intherightsituation.Thinkingthateveryonewillalways
be intrinsically motivated to contribute to an alliance is
just as naïve as believing that having a good contract in
place will in itself ensure the success of the alliance. The
point is to custom design an alliance.
Control and trust may strengthen each other. A dis-
cussion about all of the issues that may call for greater
control can help strengthen the understanding between
the partners. Clarity on each other’s perspective regard-
ing the alliance may help build trust. Trust may make
it easier to share concerns and, as a result, formal rules
maybeagreedontoalleviatetheseconcerns.Inthisway,
trust may strengthen control. The concepts of control
and trust may be intuitively clear, but their practical ap-
plication is less straightforward.
Each approach has its limits. Although having a high
level of trust may sound ideal, the downside may be
that the attention paid to the goals of the alliance may
diminish when a partnership becomes too intimate.
Groupthink may lead alliance partners to ignore or
downplay changes in the environment, putting the
alliance at risk. A formal control mechanism ensures
that alliance partners ask the right questions about
their business and help maintain their focus on the
goals. In contrast, placing too much emphasis on con-
trol may undermine employees’ identification with the
alliance and the mutual adjustments necessary for ef-
fective alliance operations. Processes, procedures, and
contracts do not make an alli­ance. People need to be
willing to invest in the alliance, which requires that
they form a psychological bond with it. When people
identify with the goals of the alliance, the alliance will
operate more smoothly.
Eachapproachclearlyhasitslimits.Anoverlyheavyem-
phasis on control will reduce flexibility and creativity in
an alliance. It may induce people to focus on the rules
insteadofthegoals.Moreover,thecostsofgoverningthe
alliancewillbehigh.Incontrast,significantemphasison
trust may lead to a loss of focus and lower operational
efficiency, and may provide no explicit mechanism to
correct free-riding and opportunism. In an alliance that
aims to create economies of scale, trust may be ineffec-
tive. In alliances aimed at innovation, control will be
counterproductive. Therefore, one of the most funda-
mental questions that needs to be answered when de-
signing an alliance is: What is the right balance between
control and trust given the specific aims this alliance
seeks to achieve?
Based on detailed case studies of more than a dozen al-
liances, the general guidelines are easy to identify. More
control is necessary when alliance size increases and the
partner-related risk is higher (e.g., when collaborating
with a competitor). When business risk is high, as in a
fast-changing environment, trust is called for because
detailed contracts are counterproductive in such a situa-
tion. In practice, however, companies face a mix of these
elements. In that case, fine-tuning the alliance by taking
into account all elements of alliance design is necessary.
These include clarity on the strategic imperatives of the
Continuedonpage39

28. 28 Strategic Alliance Magazine
OurPlacein
theSunThe Alliance
Management Community
Will Gather and
“Pass the Talking Stick”
in Arizona This March
By Michael Burke

29. ASAPGLOBAL
ALLIANCE
SUMMIT
MARCH 10-13,2014 SCOTTSDALE
Quarter 1, 2014 29
Never fear. Your friends, colleagues, peers, and present and fu-
turealliancepartnerswillallbedescendingonthegreaterPhoe-
nix area in March for the kind of programming, professional
development, and networking opportunities ASAP members
and alliance folks have come to expect and appreciate from the
Summit. But there’s no harm in shaking it up a little, right?
This year’s Summit will be held March 10–13 at the Talking Stick
Resort in Scottsdale, Ariz., right next to Phoenix and close to an
abundance of springtime-in-the-desert activities—many of them
right on the Talking Stick property, which itself boasts a casino,
multiple restaurants and watering holes, a spa, fitness center, and
live entertainment, among other alluring draws. And in addition
to golf and other outdoor pursuits, the Phoenix area plays host to
severalMajorLeagueBaseballteamsthatplaytheirspringtraining
games nearby.
But the attractions of this year’s Summit don’t just reside in the
uniquevenueanditswarmandfriendlyenvirons.Severalnewad-
ditionstotheconferenceprogramfor2014promisetoenlivenand
enhance the usual high value associated with the year’s premier
alliance management event. These include a fascinating keynote
speaker with highly relevant experience and advice for alliance
managers,afirst-everintroductiontoalliancemanagementwork-
shop presented by some of the profession’s pioneers, the “Marsh-
mallowChallenge”(wecan’ttellyouexactlywhatitis,butwehave
it on good authority that it involves music, prizes, some real-life
lessons in collaboration, and...marshmallows!), and a half-day
track on IT channel management put on by some of high tech’s
leading lights.
Sunday,Monday
But to begin at the beginning: On Sunday,
March 9, pre-Summit activities commence
with alliance team meetings and ASAP
committee meetings. Sunday, we’ve found
from experience, is always a nice day to
get in early, check out the hotel’s charms
and enticements, explore the local area,
and meet up with your alliance partners
and friends.
This year, Monday marks the official start
of the Summit program, and will feature
both main conference content and spe-
cial sessions, some by invitation only for
ASAP global and chapter leaders and
some available for an additional fee. The
latter includes both CA-AM and CSAP
certification prep workshops given by
experts in alliance man-
agement for those who are
earning their stripes in the
profession and looking to
start or keep their careers on
the right trajectory.
Speaking of experts, this
Summit is full of them. And
Monday afternoon will fea-
ture a first: an introductory
training course for new al-
liance managers, presented
by two of the pioneers in the
field from ASAP Global Member Eli Lilly and Company. The
course, called “Introduction to Alliance Management Work-
shop: Tools and Techniques,” is a distillation of Lilly’s decades
of business alliance experience and will be led by a couple of the
most highly respected alliance managers and thought leaders
in the profession: David S. Thompson, CA-AM, chief alliance
officer at Lilly, and Steven E. Twait, CSAP, Lilly’s senior direc-
tor of alliance management. (This workshop also carries an ad-
ditional fee. A special thank- you to Lilly which is donating all
materials, IP, and instructor time for the course.)
Applicable to alliance management novices in any in-
dustry, the “Introduction to Alliance Management
Workshop” will provide never-before-published
case studies, tools, and techniques that are used
in alliance management training at Lilly. At a
minimum, participants will come out with a
working knowledge of alliance management,
including the start-up, maintenance, and
winding down of alliances, as well as an un-
derstanding of how to get the most value from
a collaboration. In addition, they will have the
opportunity to participate in a presession discus-
sion and survey and will receive a set of “battle-
tested” alliance management tools, as well as
taking part in a postsession follow-up with the
instructors. This session is an invaluable must-
attend for those who are new to alliances and
alliance management.
Theattractionsofthisyear’sSummit
don’tjustresideintheuniquevenueandits
warmandfriendlyenvirons.
A CASINO IN THE DESERT (BUT NOT LAS VEGAS)? “Un-conference” sessions? A marsh-
mallow contest? Golf and spring training baseball? Is this the ASAP Global Alliance Summit?
2 0 1 4 A S A P G L O B A L A L L I A N C E S U M M I T P R E V I E W
Keynote Speaker: Lisa Caswell,
president of Siemens e-Meter

30. Strategic Alliance Magazine30 Strategic Alliance Magazine
Monday evening there will be a peer-to-peer meet-up, a
no-host event in which Summit participants can get to-
gether, have a drink and dinner, and head out to explore
the sights and sounds of the local area if they wish.
Tuesday:AllianceManagers
LeadingtheCharge
Tuesday’s activities begin promptly at 8:15 a.m. with the
opening of the general session, highlighted by this year’s
keynote address, “Leading the Charge: How Partnering
Prepared Me to Become a Corporate Division Presi-
dent,” by Lisa Caswell, president of Siemens e-Meter.
Caswell’s is a success story that is becoming more com-
mon as partnering is seen as increasingly critical to the
businessworld.Herbackgroundinalliancedevelopment
and sales gave her a chance to see and learn all aspects of
the business, and she parlayed that experience into her
current role as president of Siemens’s e-Meter business,
which is now driving toward complete integration with
theSiemensSmartGridDivision.Caswellwillsharewhy
and how her ability to create partnering-led businesses
and to collaborate internally and externally has opened
doors for her—the doors to the executive suite, in this
case—and how partnering experience can create simi-
lar opportunities for alliance managers who have, as this
year’s Summit theme states, “the expertise to collaborate
and the leadership to perform.”
Other noteworthy sessions on tap for Tuesday include
“Mastering the Message: The Art of Expert Commu-
nication,” presented by Bart Queen, CEO of Speak
AmericaandfounderoftheUltimateStrategicSpeaking
System; a panel that will discuss “The Right Person for
the Job: Hiring Your Alliance Workforce”; and sessions
onsuchtopicsaslearningalliances,cobrandedalliances,
and cross-­functional alliance organizations.
Two sessions will look at opti-
mizing alliances and alliance
portfolios: “Right Partners,
Right Strategy: Taking a Stra-
tegic Approach to the Alliance Portfolio,” presented
by Scott Musson, vice president of global strategic
alliances at Red Hat, Lorin Coles, CSAP, CEO of Al-
liancesphere, and Jeff Shuman, CSAP, principal at
The Rhythm of Business; and “Inflection Points: Op-
timizing Your Alliance Amid Life Cycle Challenges,”
presented by Ron McRae, CSAP, director of alliance
management at Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of
Johnson Johnson, and Janice Babia Ramos, CSAP,
directorofalliancemanagementatJanssenBiotechInc.
Finally, Leona Helverson, CSAP, and Karen Robinson,
CSAP, from ASAP Global Member Verizon will present
“Doing a 180: Partner Today, Channel Partner Tomor-
row!,” which looks at new roles and skills for alliance
managers involved in sales distribution programs.
Wednesday:ChangingtheChannel
The channel in IT will also be the focus of an all-new
half-daytrackonWednesday.Thistrackwillinclude“The
VAR Debate: Nontraditional Partnerships in IT,” a panel
moderated by ASAP New England chapter president
Frank Curran, director of business development and al-
liances at SUSE, and featuring Greg Fox, CSAP, director
of the Citrix Ready Partner Program, and Gavin Miller,
vice president and general manager of sales and market-
ing solutions for Avnet Technology Solutions. The panel
will look at two different approaches to these evolving
nontraditionaltechnologyalliances.
2 0 1 4 A S A P G L O B A L A L L I A N C E S U M M I T P R E V I E W

31. 31Quarter 1, 2014
Another session in this track will be
“Changing the Channel: Succeeding as
a Channel Manager in the Age of SaaS
and SMAC,” presented by Norma Wa-
tenpaugh, CSAP, founding principal
of Phoenix Consulting Group (and
leader of the editorial team that cre-
ated The ASAP Handbook of
Alliance Management, third
edition), and Dede Haas,
CA-AM, channel sales strate-
gist for DLH Services, LLC. This
special double session is an interactive mini-workshop
thatwillexplorehowtomakeitasachannelmanagerin
today’s IT world, where traditional hardware and soft-
warechannelsareatacrossroadsandSaaS(softwareasa
service)andSMAC(social,mobile,analytics,andcloud)
technologies present new challenges and opportunities
for profitable, sustainable channel relationships.
AllianceEnablementbyDesign
Other Wednesday highlights include “Getting Up to
Speed Together: Sales Team Collaboration and Alliance
Enablement,”presentedbyGeraldJ.Dehkes,CSAP,and
DavidErlenborn,CSAP,ofKPMGLLP;astrategicview
of alliance scorecards by R. Lynn Richard, CA-AM, of
Unisys; a panel discussion on smart cities and smarter
partneringledbyASAPBeNeLuxchapterpresidentAn-
nickdeSwaef,CA-AM, of Consensa Consulting; a ses-
sion on pursuing alli­ances and joint ventures in China
by Manlio Huacuja, CA-AM, of LoJack Corporation
and Frank Grams of Sanofi; and a presentation on al-
liance design by Professor Ard-Pieter de Man, CSAP,
of VU University Amsterdam—who literally wrote the
book on it! (See story, page 24.)
Wednesday afternoon will conclude with a general
session and the not-to-be-missed 2014
ASAP Alliance Excellence Awards cer-
emony, where the best of the best in al-
liance management from the past year
will be recognized and lauded. Did your
company win this year? Will one of your
partners wear the laurels? You’ll want
to be on hand to find out.
From there, Wednesday’s activ-
ities will shift into a smoother,
softer, Barry White sort of
gear—with a “Sunset Celebration,” complete with food,
beverages, music, and of course, networking with your
alliancefriendsandpeers.Planonstayingaroundforthe
Wednesdayeveningfunandfrolic,andtowrapupthose
continuing conversations with partners old and new.
TotheSummit!
That marks the end of most of the “official” Summit
activities—but Thursday the CSAP exam will be given
for those who have done their prep work for this high-
est level of alliance management certification, and
there are a variety of options for folks to take part in
an “Arizona Outing” (if you selected that option dur-
ing your registration, you’ll be contacted by ASAP
staff with excursion choices available for an additional
fee).SobeforeyouheadoffintotheArizonanight—or
the warm desert sunlight beckoning with golf, base-
ball, and other outdoor adventures—make sure you’ve
made the most of your Summit experience this year,
both in conference sessions and outside.
And remember, the Summit won’t be the same without
your presence—so we’ll see you in Scottsdale!
For registration information for the 2014 ASAP Global
Alliance Summit, visit www.strategic-alliances.org right
awayandclickontheSummitbanneradontheright—or
contact Michele Shannon at +1-781-562-1630 ext. 204
or mshannon@strategic-alliances.org. March is almost
here, so don’t wait!
2 0 1 4 A S A P G L O B A L A L L I A N C E S U M M I T P R E V I E W

32. GettheProfessional
RecognitionYouDeserve!
EarnCertificationPointsforYourCompany’s
AllianceManagementTraining!
CSAP CA-AM
Areyouleadingin-housealliancemanagement
training–ortakingcoursesprovidedbyyour
company?Youdeservecreditfor that–sonowASAP
isofferingyetanother waytoearncertificationpoints!
ASAP has introduced a new benefit for certified alliance
professionals who work for ASAP Corporate or Global
Members. Now you can receive points toward your
CA-AM or CSAP certification or renewals when you
leadorparticipateinin-houseeducationalsessionsthat
meet the guidelines established by ASAP’s Professional
Development Committee.
Gettheprofessionalrecognitionyouhaveearned
whenyou integrate alliance management knowledge
into yourandyourcolleagues’professionaldevelopment.
Contact ASAP’s certificationcoordinatorJenniferSilverat
+1-781-562-1630ext.205orjsilver@strategic-alliances.org
formore information.
960 Turnpike St, Canton, MA 02021 USA | Tel: +1-781-562-1630 | strategic-alliances.org | info@strategic-alliances.org

33. E D I T O R I A L S U P P L E M E N TE D I T O R I A L S U P P L E M E N T
ByRachelleE.Hawkins,CA-AM,JoannaL.C.May,CA-AM,
DavidS.Thompson,CA-AM,andStevenE.Twait,CSAP
While the origins of effective individual leadership can be a source of lively debate, our experience has made it clear
that great alliance managers are made, not born. This conclusion is inevitable due in large part to the unique nature of
alliance management—a composite discipline that requires skills from a range of functions, including project manage-
ment, human resources, finance, engineering, IT, and business development. Along with experience in these areas,
successful alliance managers must possess—and learn to apply strategically—a comprehensive combination of inter-
personal, professional, and alliance-specific competencies.
33Quarter 1, 2014