Strange Bedfellows?

So now that the Microhoo merger is off the table (at least temporarily), we can get back to business as usual. Errr, or not. Does anyone remember that Yahoo and Google are going to run a trial for using Google search on Yahoo?

Is that not a strange bedfellow? Is that an ‘Art of War’ Sun-Tzu moment?

Really it is neither. It is a wise move utilizing a key strategic alliance. Being a big proponent of focusing on your core, I am also a supporter of strategic alliances.

The general assumption I work under is that even if a certain business aspect is not core to your company, it is core to some company out there. Thus taken to the logical extreme, if your company only focuses on 1 core thing, it could still cobble together a very successful enterprise by striking alliances with companies that represent all other components, where that component is ‘core’ to that business. While not realistic, the concept holds.

Companies should really take a good hard look at what their core competency is, and how they can compliment and enhance that, through strategic alliances. Sometimes, like in the Yahoo case, it requires you to ask and answer some really tough questions, challenge some notions that may be considered sacrosanct, and really swallow hard. You do not have to be best of friends to successfully work together. You just have to align people to common goals and share the vision.

Call it whatever you want; in the end these partnerships can help you accomplish some serious business goals- whether scaling costs, opening new doors to new markets, outsourcing non-core business processes…. The list goes on, and with creative thinking and a good team to help find and deliver the opportunities, you too can help change the game of your business for the better.