Week 7 Assignment

Introduction

Merger, acquisition, alliances and International Joint Ventures are common phenomena these days and there have been substantial research that is dedicated to a range of explorations surrounding them. Below are a few studies that have undertaken them as subjects and provide deeper insights about the concepts and the factors and aspects surrounding them.

Article: Human resources management: A success and failure factor in strategic alliances. Employee Relation, Pp. 61-80.

Authors: Lajara, B. M., Lillo, F. G., & Sempere, V. S.

Date of Publication: 2003.

Lajara et.al.'s study synthesizes the main aspects associated with human resources and how these factors are responsible for the success or failure of strategic alliances. The perspective of both the co-operating firm and the alliance is kept in consideration while conducting the study and also the characteristics of international alliances are considered in the study.

The recent years have seen a considerable number of firms considering co-operation with other firms due to the number of advantages that are associated with it. But despite such a growing importance in this direction many of the alliances fail to get along for a longer period of time. Hence, the researcher's basic focus in the study is to analyze the success and failure factors in strategic alliances with a special focus on factors related to human resources. The first factor that the researchers highlight with regard to a successful strategic alliance is the compatibility of the organizations in terms of the capacities needed for the performance of an activity. Minor differences in terms of management style and culture of the cooperating firms can lead to serious issues thereby resulting in the end of an alliance.

The next significant factor that is detrimental in the success or failure of a strategic alliance is humans. In this regard, Human Resources Management effectively performing its basic functions can play a significant role in the effectiveness of an alliance. With a new alliance come a variety of changes in the behavior of the organizations which can lead to conflicts and issues that need to be sorted out at their earliest. The problems may arise because of many reasons which include the alliance considered as a threat to their job, inability of employees to work with people from other cultures, and not knowing the strategic context thereby creating disinterest in the alliance. Hence, keeping into consideration the importance of collaboration of individuals for the success of the alliance, it is essential to address the concerns of the workers in this time of change. Negotiation and communication along with manipulation and coercion can help in this direction and gain the confidence and support of the employees. Apart from the low-rank employees, the participation of the senior managers and their part in the co-operation management is vital for the success of the alliance.

In terms of co-operation between the organizations, it is important that the best executives are assigned to the alliance and also keep on rotating the executives on timely basis so as to reduce the ...