Joint Venturing (PB)

This short, reader-friendly book is about best practice in joint ventures: the factors andprocesses which lead to success.Every year, corporations establish thousands of joint ventures (JVs), investing hundredsof billions of dollars. In fact, between 25% and 40% of all foreign investments takeplace 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 manyyears. The senior executives in these organizations often noted that the decision-makingformat 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 requirehowever an open mind, and the willingness to work through a series of questions Iprovide. 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 toacknowledge and respect that someone else (here a partner) has much to contribute, a stronger enterprise can result. TrueJVs 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 aninternational flight.This book is written for practicing managers and executives. Those contemplatingthe formation of a JV and those currently engaged in JVs will see improvement inthe duration and performance of their collaborative ventures by following therecommended actions.A second audience is business schools and academics. The book is ideal for MBA,executive MBA and non-degree executive education courses or modules focused onJVs, alliances, cooperative strategies, etc.