Cooperative Strategy Research Paper Samples

The degree of information disclosure in strategic alliance

In the recent past, the monopolization market structure has slowly been converted into a monopolistic structure due to the multiple strategic alliances with companies as a tactical approach to join a competitive market. A strategic alliance is a form of partnership where two or companies agree to work together, share resources with an objective to benefit mutually Gibbs & Humphries, 2009). For instance, companies may form a joint venture to share input resources in a bid to safeguard competitive advantage over rivals. It is ethically imperative for strategic partners to disclose all information to each other including financial statements, revenue sharing ratio, marketing strategy and develop a formidable working structure. The rationale for information disclosure is based on utmost good faith where neither of the partners will incur undue advantage over the other.

Two US-Based companies that could form a strategic alliance

McDonalds and Google Company are two US multinational corporations that have dominated in fast foods and technology industries respectively. Both companies could form a formidable partnership that would thrive their market penetration across the globe. McDonalds could adopt the e-commerce marketing technique to reach the youthful population that accounts for almost three-quarters of its consumers. It would econ economically viable for McDonald to form non-equity strategic alliance with Google to formulate an Android based McDonald software application that would allow it customers to assess menu, make orders, as well as suggestions and compliments. On the other hand, Google Company will benefit from McDonald’s 68 million customers diversified in 119 countries and enhance its market (About mcdonalds). Consequently, both companies will gain revenue due to the dominance of Samsung mobile smartphones use of android across the globe. The ultimate advantage of the alliance is that both companies will expand their market base due to product uniqueness and increase revenue.

Type of cooperative strategy for Google Company and McDonalds Corporation.

The most appropriate strategy for Google and McDonalds is non-equity strategic alliance that retains the independence of each partner in terms of shareholding and only confines the partnership to resource and revenue sharing. The rationale of the strategy is to avoid distorting the operational structure of each company in other ventures. In this case, Google and McDonald would only agree on the designing of the application and leave the market forces to drive competition. Specifically, Google will be required to develop a McDonald’s application that would appear on Android mobile phones, and their services would be limited to hosting, updating and maintenance. The partnership will help the companies maintain sustainable competitive advantage in the fast cycle market.

References

Gibbs, R., & Humphries, A. (2009). Strategic alliances & marketing partnerships: Gaining competitive advantage through collaboration and partnering. London: Kogan Page.
About mcdonalds. (2015, February). Retrieved from https://mcdonalds.com