Joint Venturing

This short, readerfriendly book is about best practice in joint ventures: the factors and processes which lead to success. Every year, corporations establish thousands of joint ventures (JVs), investing hundreds of billions of dollars. In fact, between 25% and 40% of all foreign investments take place via equity JVs. The use of JVs and strategic alliances has been rapidly growing. I've worked as a joint venture facilitator for Fortune 500 and other corporations for many years. The senior executives in these organizations often noted that the decisionmaking format I used with them would make a great book. This is it. The key purpose of the book is to demonstrate that joint ventures can work. They require however an open mind, and the willingness to work through a series of questions I provide. These relate to: testing the strategic logic; partnership and fit; shape and design; and operating the JV. Contrary to the perceptions of some, JVs can be just as profitable and survive just as long as wholly owned subsidiaries. They can in fact be effectively managed, and they are not going to cause a firm to lose its proprietary technology. Partnerships can work extremely well, and often, placing less emphasis on “control” is the way to go. If one is willing to acknowledge and respect that someone else (here a partner) has much to contribute, a stronger enterprise can result. True JVs can result in more stable and sustainable business, benefiting all partners, in whatever country they are located. The format of the book is intentionally conversational. It uses the Socratic method (question, answer, question, answer) which works so effectively in a case study classroom. Here the “classroom” is several business class seats on an international flight. This book is written for practicing managers and executives. Those contemplating the formation of a JV and those currently engaged in JVs will see improvement in the duration and performance of their collaborative ventures by following the recommended actions. A second audience is business schools and academics. The book is ideal for MBA, executive MBA and nondegree executive education courses or modules focused on JVs, alliances, cooperative strategies, etc.