Abstract
Many firms form alliances in order to address complex business challenges, but often find that alliance management is challenging. Increasing numbers of organizations are forming alliances, and those that do often ally with multiple partners. Even if a firm has experience with alliance relationships, managing in a multi-alliance context presents unique challenges, and it is often the case that all of a firm's alliances are not equally successful. We discuss factors which can lead to varied within-firm alliance performance, illustrating these challenges through the case study of a consulting firm that has allied with two very similar organizations in the technology sector. One of these alliances is thriving and yielding the consulting firm considerable benefits, whereas the other is not achieving its potential. After noting the causes of this performance disparity, we offer five recommendations for optimizing individual alliance performance for firms managing an alliance portfolio. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
