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Black-Box Protection of Core Competencies in Strategic Alliances

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2015

Michael Milgate
Michael Milgate*
Affiliation:
Department of Business, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Tel: +61 2 9850 7787, Fax: +61 2 9850 8586, Email: mmilgate@efs.mq.edu.au
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Abstract

This article presents a conceptual framework that participants in cooperative ventures may use to protect core competencies and proprietary information, while allowing the cooperative venture to benefit from these. While strategic alliances, in various forms, are becoming more common (Beamish and Delios, 1997), a potentially issue that often remains unresolved is how to protect your core competencies, while still cooperating openly with your partner, particularly when advanced technology is involved. It can be difficult for partners in an alliance to cooperate and openly share strategic know-how. Cooperation and openness are necessary, however, if a joint venture is to succeed. Since the success of any strategic alliance is based on cooperation, trust and an open sharing of competencies, potentially sensitive knowledge might be exposed through the joint venture. This is why many executives regard strategic alliances with reservation (Lorenz, 1992). They resist giving away core strategic competencies that might be misused in other contexts.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 6 , Issue 2 , March 2000 , pp. 32 - 43
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2000

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