Network Advantage: How to Unlock Value From Your Alliances and Partnerships

Chapter Nine

Recognizing Patterns: Two Alliance Portfolio-Building Styles

In 2008, when the global financial crisis and accompanying recession hit many manufacturing industries hard, Ford Motor Company took action to survive. Across the globe, major companies like Ford faced the prospect that they and their supply chains might unravel. Ford's managers realized they were threatened not only by their own cash problems but also by suppliers having cash-flow shortages if their customers (like General Motors or even Ford itself) cut back on spending. To allow Ford to retain its ability to manufacture cars and trucks at reasonable costs, its managers took bold steps to save their supplier relationships.¹ They started to systematically assess how much ...