Strategic Alliances and Information Technology - Essay Example

Management teams work in depth to overcome all the issues that result from strategic alliances, especially in ensuring that their businesses meet the core objectives and simultaneously maintaining the flexibility to acclimatize quickly to acquiring partners, as appropriate. Most of these alliance strategies overlook issues of information technology that are equally significant, or even more (Mary 2004). Information technology plays a significant role in strategic alliances among organizations especially with each partner having their practices and systems that they use. The first issue is that the management teams do not have substantial approaches that guarantee comprehensive utilization of these systems. Despite the multiple advancements in technology, particularly in working with distance, management teams do not put in the necessary resources to make the best out of combined efforts in information technology. If management focused on utilizing IT in developing strategic alliances among organizations, it would enhance their competition statures.

            Notably, apart from those management teams that fail to utilize IT at all in their alliances, some recognize the different management information systems and information reporting systems as essential facets of the alliances but only focus on exploiting the resources of a single organization alone. This is not only a factor of limitation but also affects the utilization factor. Combined resources in the form of MISs, work teams, and information technology knowledge are more efficient for alliances but management teams overlook the factors of integration and sharing in strategic partnerships.

            Among the core objectives of strategic alliances is using the differences to come up with an effective compromise on markets, customers, processes, and culture (Thomas 2004). This aspect also applies to information technology systems. Most companies that are IT-oriented insist on the integration of systems and sharing of information; however, the management teams waste a lot of time and attention on approaches to minimize conflict and reach an agreement. Instead of focusing on how to make the systems compatible or evaluating the integration as the main issue, the partners focus on the flaws of the opposing systems and reasons why the integration should not happen. The most efficient approach to the integration of information technology in strategic alliances is putting a commendable focus on execution and maintenance rather than wasting energy and time on the notion that the system that works within a company will work out perfectly in a partnership with external organizations.