| dc.description.abstract | Strategic alliances are often born out of the need of member organisations to position
themselves better in terms of sourcing funds, and the need to share skills and resources
that may be lacking in one organisation, if it were to stand alone. Such alliances give the
organisation a better position in terms of image, shared experience and knowledge. Gedo
Health Consortium was formed by an ailiance of three NGOs and has become the
management wing of the three partners Trocaire, Cordaid and AMREF.
This is a case study ofGedo Health Consortium carried out in July and August 2003. The
objective of the study was to establish the nature of the strategic alliance and document
the implementing experience of all three partners. The data was coilected though an
open-ended questionnaire and then analysed through content analysis, by comparing the
data from the data collection instruments.
The study established that the three partners of Gedo Health Consortium had
unsystematically undertaken certain steps towards the creation of the alliance. The
partners had been collaborating in training and other areas of common interest for several
years. The initiative was proposed by three programme managers working within the
three organisations, who developed the idea from a concept into a proposal, which was
acceptable to the three organisations.
The study also established that the initial stages of implementation have been filled with
many teething problems, of which the alliance is still putting in place strategies to deal
with. It was established that there is an urgent need to finalise and sign a comprehensive
document, which binds the relationship of the three partner organisations and gives
direction to the way forward. Further there is a need for co-operation, co-ordination and
communication of the different organisational cultures, which affect the direction and
decisions of the alliance.
It would be recommendable for the alliance members to have an external evaluation
of the programme. This will address the management challenges, which affect attainment
of the objectives of the alliance. The study found out that success of the working
arrangement will depend heavily on strategically planning the overall management and
direction of alliance. However, it was not established to what extent these deficiencies
have affected the alliance. Therefore there is need for further study to be conducted on
the long-term implementation process of the strategic alliance and its impact on the three
partners. There is also need to study how the alliance management is influenced by the
differences in organisational culture among the partners in the alliance. | en |
