Creating Alliance Value

Go deeper into the mechanics of successful alliances.

Successful alliances don't run on good intentions alone.

Contracts have to anticipate how partners will work together, governance has to support real decisions, disagreements have to be managed before they derail the relationship, and partners have to keep creating value as circumstances change.

Creating Alliance Value, written by alliance leaders David S. Thompson, CSAP, Kim Koch, CA-AM, and Lisa Keough, CA-AM, takes a deeper look at these challenges. Through practical guidance and real-world examples, it explores both the structures that support an alliance and the human dynamics that determine how well those structures work. The current book specifically covers governance, contract design, disputes, Value Inflection Points, and international alliances.

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What you'll explore

The Alliance Life Cycle: startup, steady state, and wind-down
Contract design and key contract elements for alliance managers
Governance structure, practice, and documentation
Handling the first dispute to set the partnership up for success
How to identify and predict Value Inflection Points (VIPs)
Managing international alliances

The book also includes case studies and answers, discussion questions, diagrams, a sample contract, and a glossary to help connect the concepts to day-to-day alliance work.

Value Inflection Points

Not every moment in an alliance carries the same weight.

Value Inflection Points, or VIPs, are moments when what happens next can significantly affect the value of the partnership. A disagreement, major decision, change in circumstances, or other turning point can either strengthen the alliance or put its goals at risk.

Creating Alliance Value explores how alliance professionals can recognize these moments early, understand what is at stake, and manage them intentionally rather than simply reacting once problems escalate. The book devotes chapters both to the first dispute as a VIP and to identifying and predicting VIPs more broadly.

Who is it for?

Whether you’re building your alliance management foundation or looking to go deeper on governance, contracts, conflict, and value creation, Creating Alliance Value offers a practitioner-focused look at the issues alliance managers encounter in the course of real partnerships.

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“The influence that David Thompson and his team have had on the partnering profession has cut across industries, permeating the thinking and conversation surrounding nearly every alliance-related topic. Alliances, as David has often said, are not by nature necessarily efficient, but they can certainly be effective—if they’re managed skillfully, thoughtfully, and proactively. Creating Alliance Value, written by David and his coauthors, Kim Koch and Lisa Keough, will help you to do just that.”
—Michael Leonetti, CSAP, Former President and CEO, Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals (ASAP)

Chapter overview

Foreword by Michael Leonetti, CSAP
A note from one of the authors
Chapter 1: Alliance management overview
Chapter 2: Governance theory
Chapter 3: Governance practice
Chapter 4: Documenting governance
Chapter 5: The first dispute: A Value Inflection Point
Chapter 6: Identifying and predicting Value Inflection Points
Chapter 7: Contract design
Supplemental chapter: Leading across borders: Managing international alliances
Appendix: Answers to case study questions
Glossary: About the authors

The authors

David S. Thompson, CSAP
Vice President, Global Head of Alliance Management

BeiGene

Kim Koch, CA-AM
Senior Director, Alliance Management and Corporate Business Development

Eli Lilly and Company

Lisa Keough, CA-AM
Senior Director, Alliance Management and M&A Integration