Look for a story in a news source such The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fortune, or Bloomberg Businessweek about two companies that have announced an alliance or partnership. As you read the announcement of the alliance, answer the following questions 

1. What are the strategic objectives of each alliance partner?

2. Is this a vertical alliance or a horizontal alliance?

3. What resources and capabilities are brought to the alliance by each partner? In your opinion, which partner seems to bring the more valuable resources?

4. Which type of alliance is this: contractual, equity, or joint venture?

Does the article describe how the partners will split the gains from the alliance? If so, does the split seem reasonable?

5. How do you think the firms will create value in the alliance? Is value mostly created by combining complementary resources, pooling similar resources, creating entirely new resources, or reducing transaction costs/increasing efficiency between the two organizations?