Keynote: Alliance Strategy -Vision and Framework

Ben Gomes-Cassares, a well-respected expert on technology alliance strategy, will lead a discussion on the nature of alliances, including an examination of motivations and key success factors. From his many years of experience with numerous high-tech companies, he has found that successful alliance strategies include: (1) good alliance design, (2) effective alliance management; (3) systematic crafting of the alliance portfolio; and (4) building an internal alliance capability.

• Takeaway: A strategic framework for considering when, with whom, and how to partner to gain technology/innovation advantage. How to expand and leverage a portfolio of alliances.

Ben Gomes-Casseres is an authority on alliance strategy and management, with a focus on technology companies. A professor at Brandeis University, he also wrote The Alliance Revolution: The New Shape of Business Rivalry and Mastering Alliance Strategy: A Comprehensive Guide to Design, Management and Organization

Featured Presentation:
Developing and Implementing Strategy

Nita Seelinger, president, DuPont Food Industry Solutions, whose background includes the market evaluation of the Photonics technology platform for the Telecomm industry, merger integration of the $7.7 billion acquisition of Pioneer Hi-Bred, project management for divestiture of Conoco and the subsequent $4.4 billion IPO, and transition management of the $1.5 billion acquisition of DuPont’s Protein Technologies, will discuss:

1. Developing an alliance strategy in support of business goals
2. Key factors to consider when forming alliances
3. What contributes to the success and failure of alliances (mergers, divestitures, etc.)

• Takeaway: Implementation guidelines to ensure profitable outcomes – how to choose, integrate, project-manage, and facilitate the transition of successful alliances and acquisitions.

Nita Seelinger is president, DuPont Food Industry Solutions, a business partner providing food and food ingredients companies with the technical expertise of more than 1000 DuPont technical specialists for creating new product and process possibilities.

 Scouting New Technologies in
Complex and Challenging Times

Over the last decade, several factors have combined to create a complex and challenging environment for the sourcing of external technologies. With an emphasis on short term results, many companies are now beginning to face a less than optimal internal pipeline of new products and are increasingly looking for external sources. However, the recent economic downturn has also impacted the external funding of emerging technologies. This session will focus on:

1. Structure and roles for corporate technology function
2. Ability to access new technologies in academia, entrepreneurial networks, public sector
3. Processes for initial assessment of candidates
4. Processes for "unsolicited submissions"
5. Working relationships with venture capital funds
6. Management of incubation stages

• Takeaway: Alternatives and practical sources of new technology – how to find, solicit, evaluate, and cost-effectively acquire external technologies.

For more than 25 years, the core of Dr. Val Livada’s practice has been on issues related to innovation, entrepreneurship and new product/new business development. Prior to founding Weybridge, he was Vice President at Pugh-Roberts Associates, a consulting firm started at the MIT Sloan School of Business.

Selecting a successful partner requires more than finding the firm that has the best apparent solution to your needs – it requires someone with whom you can effectively work and who values making the relationship work as strongly as do you. What can you do before you close the deal to increase the odds that the relationship will be mutually rewarding? Drawing on case histories of both successful and unsuccessful alliances, discussion will focus on clarifying needs, potential value, the strategic end-game, "arms-length" due diligence, interpersonal considerations, readiness, and cultural fit.

• Takeaway: Five screening steps which can substantially improve the probability of success

Jay Paap is President of Paap Associates, Inc. (PAI), a management consulting firm assisting major corporations in a broad range of business and technology development efforts, and serves on the faculty of the Industrial Relations Center at Cal Tech.

Measuring Value for Technology and Partnerships

What is meant by "value" with respect to technology and partnerships? What is "valuation" versus "value creation potential?" This session will explore value measurement of both tangible and intangible assets, financial and non-financial value streams, technology, partnerships, and future value streams - with suggestions for managing risks and uncertainties.

• Takeaway: A framework for managing and measuring intellectual capital and intangibles, an overview of related measurement tools, an on-line tool for modeling future value streams from intangibles, and application to measuring value for technology and partnerships

Rob McLean is President of MatrixLinks International Inc., and an associate of ICMG, a consulting firm which advises clients on intellectual capital management. He is a leading international authority on measuring enterprise performance in relation to intellectual capital, value creation, and business strategy.

SESSION DESCRIPTIONS
Tuesday, June 3

Monitoring the Relationship, Making Sure it Works

Identifying alliance opportunities and structuring the deal are critical first steps, but measuring performance and value as well as managing the alliance relationship at multiple levels are critical to achieving results. This becomes even more important when a portfolio of deals is involved. In this session, Mark Deck will provide guidance on using JDAs to manage alliances at the project level, setting up effective alliance metrics, managing an alliance relationship through its lifecycle and organizational approaches for managing a portfolio of alliances. Anton Gueth will then provide examples based on his work at Lilly, including tools for evaluating the progress and health of each relationship, and methods for alliance termination without undue drain on the organization.

• Takeaway: How to set up JDAs and metrics, and how to manage alliances- whether one or multiple –from beginning to end. How to monitor progress, terminate if necessary.

Mark Deck is Lead Director Product And Cycle-time Excellence Practice, Pittiglio Rabin Todd & McGrath (PRTM), management consultants to technology industry. Anton Gueth is the former Director of the Office of Alliance Management, Eli Lilly and Company.

Turning around a sick alliance and refocusing its remaining energy on success is not an easy task. It can only be successful when executives on both sides admit that there is a problem and agree that the alliance is worth saving. Once these decisions are made, they must be supported with the appropriate methods. Dr. Slowinski will discuss:

1. How to link the decision-making structures and internal resource management of the two firms
2. How to resolve IP ownership conflicts
3. Reporting the value of the alliance to the senior management of both parent firms

• Takeaway: Tools, metrics, and management techniques specifically designed to deal with at-risk technology alliances.

Gene Slowinski is a well-respected expert on alliance management. He is Director of the Rutgers University Technical Assistance Program at the Graduate School of Management, Rutgers University. He has held management positions at AT&T Bell Laboratories, Bellcore, and Novartis Corporation.

Application Activities/Wrap Up

Through structured breakout sessions (one on each day), informal discussion with peers, and a final wrap-up, you will come away with a working plan for your own organization -- you will know how to judge the potential value of technology alliances or deals, how to structure them, and how to manage and monitor for financial and strategic gain.