Managing strategic alliances between Church World Services and community based organizations in Kenya
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Date
2010-11Author
Kaloki, Alice W.
Type
ThesisLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
A strategic alliance is an arrangement wherein organizations agree to co-operate with each other
in a business area, each bringing different strengths and capabilities to the alliance. Interorganizational
co-operation is spurred by the increased recognition of the fact that no firm or
organization has all the capabilities e.g. resources and activities, needed for it to achieve its goals
or objectives in the marketplace in today’s dynamic and heterogeneous global market. Benefits
of strategic alliances include and are not limited to cost minimization, knowledge acquisition,
and resource sharing. For these benefits to be fully realized, Strategic alliances have to be
adequately managed.
A case study on Church World Services was done to investigate how strategic alliances are
formed and managed for full realization of benefits. The study revealed the various phases
(design phase and post formation phase) in the formation and management of these strategic
alliances. It was established that the choice of an appropriate strategic partner (complementary,
compatible, and committed) at the time of alliance formation, and making relevant choices with
respect to alliance design in terms of equity or contractual or relational governance, the alliance
is more likely to succeed.
Limitations of the study included limited time and resources resulting in a constraint on the
scope as well as the depth of the research, the research design which inhibited generalization and
also unfamiliarity with the organization under investigation. The role of external donors in
influencing international humanitarian organization’s choice of strategic partners can be used as
basis for further research because there is insufficient literature highlighting the role of these
partners on the choice of strategic partners.
Citation
MBA ThesisSponsorhip
University of NairobiPublisher
School of Business, University of Nairobi