Obtaining Technology

Obtaining an Innovation Strategy
Name
Institution
Obtaining an Innovation Strategy
As technology continues to advance and administration becomes complex, companies realize that there is much to be done that they cannot manage on their own. It is the reason firms embrace external methods such as alliance, joint venture and merger or acquisition to obtain other companies’ resources or knowledge. Companies also acquire these methods to share any risks involved, enter a new market, assist the firm to overcome competition in the market or adopt new technology among others. For an organization to perform any of these methods it has to decide on the intended goals, work towards achieving them and examine the progress it is making towards achieving the set goals (White & Bruton, 2010). The firms involved should consider the elements of strategy implementation which include integration, leadership, execution, and alignment before taking action. When planning, the firm looks at all the possible considerations that will assist them in selecting a partner as they evaluate the actions taken by their competitors. During implementation, the organizations put down short term and long term goals and come up with ways of achieving them before taking action. Evaluation and control are done to determine the effectiveness of the partnership and to make any adjustments if need be (White & Bruton, 2010).
Joint venture occurs when two companies combine funds to form another jointly owned company.

The joint venture stands for itself but gets access to knowledge and resources from both companies without affecting their operations. The two companies share profits between them. An example is Sony-Ericsson, a joint business between Sony and Ericsson. Ericsson, a Swedish company, manufactures telecommunications equipment while Sony makes mobile phones. An alliance is when two or more companies legally agree to share their resources and knowledge. In this case, a formation of a new company does not take place. Apple and IBM allied to bring value addition to both their businesses. A merger occurs when two or more existing companies come together to form one company based on merger agreement made by them. It is a permanent process where eventually one company survives while the other dissolves. Bayer, a German Pharmaceuticals, and chemicals organization and Monsanto, a U.S seed and agricultural chemical firm merged to form one company intending to be the sole supplier of seeds and pesticides globally. An acquisition occurs when one company purchases another company. An example is that of Facebook acquiring WhatsApp application to advance its technological connectivity.
Reference
White, M. A., & Bruton, G. D. (2010). The management of technology and innovation: A
strategic approach. Cengage Learning.