Governance and control

Chapter 11 considers the governance and control of alliances. It begins with the aims of alliance governance. It continues by considering the key issue of partner control, including formal and informal ways of exercising control. It discusses different dimensions of control that apply to alliances. These are the extent of control exercised by partners over their alliance, the activities and decisions which they control (focus), the mechanisms by which control is exercised, and the foundations for control. The chapter then discusses different combinations of control and coordination mechanisms which are appropriate for coping with the alliance governance challenges arising from financial, resource, and market risks as well as from the requirement to overcome potential conflicts and to ensure the necessary level of internal coordination. While the chapter focuses on governance in international joint ventures, it also discusses the governance of collaborations and of global value chains.