CHAPTER 11: Managing Strategic Alliances
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Formal arrangements between two or more organizations for purposes of ongoing cooperation and
mutual gain/risk sharing is referred to as ____.
a.
strategic agreements
c.
strategic alliances
b.
aligned agreements
d.
aligned alliances
2. Larger alliances typically have more purchasing ____ because they can buy in larger volume.
a.
power
c.
incentives
b.
expertise
d.
necessities
3. The first and most basic expected outcome of alliances refers to financial performance and addresses
the issue of whether the alliance is primarily conceived for cost reduction or ____.
a.
revenue enhancement
c.
accountability enhancement
b.
revenue reduction
d.
accountability reduction
4. Power enhancement and ____ are grouped together because one often has implications for the other.
a.
certainty reduction
c.
uncertainty policy
b.
uncertainty reduction
d.
certainty policy
5. The physician-hospital relationships fall into three broad categories: noneconomic integration,
economic integration, and ____ integration.
a.
employee
c.
personal
b.
formal
d.
clinical
6. Governance mechanisms of alliances include (1) joint ownership in which partners share control of
some or all alliance assets; (2) contracts that specify rights and obligations of alliance partners; (3)
____ that rely on trust and goodwill; or (4) some combination of these.
a.
formal rewards
c.
formal agreements
b.
informal rewards
d.
informal agreements
7. ____ and conflict-management systems are subsets of relational norms underlying the process
exchange over time.
a.
Trust
c.
Productivity
b.
Intent
d.
Competition
8. A major difficulty that organizations face in addressing alliance problems is actually their inability to
identify the ____ correctly.
a.
truth
c.
problem
b.
strengths
d.
structure
9. An example of an appropriate way to deal with an alliance problem is ____.
a.
implementing performance monitors
b.
swapping capabilities
c.
creating governing boards
d.
creating a system of checks and balances
10. To form a successful alliance, the members of the alliance need to be able learn from their experience
and to build additional ____ as needed.
a.
lines of evidence
c.
capital
b.
outputs
d.
capabilities
COMPLETION
1. Alliances vary in regard to ownership, control, size, governance, and nature of
____________________.
2. A central issue to note in comparing mandated and voluntary alliances is the extent to which the
former are characterized more by style than ____________________ and by instability than longevity.
3. One way of classifying the intent of an alliance is the degree to which the alliance seeks to enhance
outcomes such as innovation, organizational learning, and ___________________.
4. The supplier-provider alliances are important for an industry where there has historically been much
____________________ between the two parties and little successful alliance formation in the past.
5. Environmental threats, ___________________, and uncertainty lead organizations with similar
ideologies and dependencies to seek out each other.
6. The third stage of an alliance’s life cycle is that of ____________________ and growth.
7. The fourth stage of development of alliances can be considered a critical ____________________.
8. Alliance problems can be viewed as generally falling into the following categories: environmental
problems, strategy problems, structure problems and ___________________ problems.
9. Many times a partner fails to take into adequate account the variety of partner types or partner
____________________ that exist.
10. ____________________ on alliances in the past 20 years has produced useful results that can guide
managerial action.
MATCHING
Match each item with a statement below:
a.
physician-hospital organizations (PHOs)
b.
competitive partner
c.
indifferent partner
d.
pooling alliances
e.
quasi-cooperative partner
f.
integrated salary models (ISMs)
g.
medicare prospective payment system (PPS)
h.
cooperative partner
i.
U.S. Memories
j.
trading alliances
1. Constitutes joint ventures designed to develop new services
2. Altered the financial incentives of hospitals by using fixed, per-case payments and leaving physician
incentives untouched
3. Constitutes vertically integrated arrangements in which the hospital acquires the physician’s practice
4. Perceives the gains of the alliance partner as implying a loss for them, even when really there is no
such trade-off
5. Not particularly interested in the strategic aspirations of the other partner in the alliance relationship
6. Interested in maximizing the joint gains in the alliance relationship, and recognizes that such
maximization requires attention to what you need to achieve in the alliance
7. Brings together organizations seeking to contribute different resources
8. Interested in making sure that you receive just enough value from the alliance so that you will not exit
9. Brings together organizations seeking to contribute similar resources
10. Conceived to provide a secure supply of chips for U.S. computer makers who were unhappy with the
occasional shortages and price fluctuations