Case_Study

CASE STUDY PARTNERSHIP FOR SUCCESS Want to Get Noticed by Potential Partners ' Do Something Impressive ,,,,,,,, Many small firms want to partner with larger companies but find that it’s hard to get noticed. But Insitu, a small engineering firm, managed this feat. It signed a 15 month partnership with Boeing, a Fortune 500 company to c-develop its most important product. The product is the Scan Eagle, an unmanned aircraft that will be sold to the US department of Defense. Insite was founded in 1994 to develop unmanned weather airplanes. Since that time, it has developed a specialty for building lightweight, long range, radio controlled aircraft. In n1998, one of Insitu’s products, the Aerosande, became the first unmanned aircraft to make a transatlantic flight. The Boeing noticed this development and both companies entered into agreement and the Boeing announced a new unmanned-aircraft division that included Insitu. Working together they will develop the Scan Eagle, 33 pound plane will be able to fly 5000 miles nonstop over 3 days, doing reconnaissance, search and rescue and military missions. Insitu will also license Boeing Technology for some of other projects in which its planes are used for wildlife monitoring. Insitu proved that one way for a small firm to get noticed by a larger potential partner is to do something impressive. There are many win-win partnerships between larger and smaller firms, in which the smaller firms stands to benefit. The first step of-course in making this happen, is to get the attention of the larger firm. QUESTIONS :- 1. Given the above information, describe what you believe is Insitu’s core strategy'. 2. Does Insitu face risks with its partnership with Boeing ' if so, what are the risks, and what should the firm do to control them'. CASE ANALYSIS Introduction The case deals with the partnership between two companies, one big company Boeing and a smaller company Insitu. Insitu was founded in 1994 to develop unmanned weather airplanes. Partnerships offer more freedom for business owners with shared business tasks and the potential to earn greater profits. People usually form partnerships because they want to own a business. In a partnership, you don't own 100% of course, but for most partners, owning part of a business is much better than owning none at all. Having partners is often what makes ownership possible.. Qn 1 Insitu’s core strategy Insitu’s core strategy is a type of defensive strategy. By this method of partnering with Boeing they have a lot of advantages. This partnership enables both the companies to work together towards success rather than competing for the same customers which here is the defence departments of different countries. Also the companies can channel their strengths to get better value than if they had worked individually. Partners provide the missing link the money, expertise, ideas, skills, connections, facilities, patents, whatever it happens to be that an entrepreneur needs to make a go of a business. Partnerships offer people a chance to do things that they would not be able to do on their own, or to do them more successfully. Opportunities open up when people combine forces. Partnerships also allow people to exploit opportunities more quickly. This enables sharing the emotional burden of ownership.All the risks can be shared . Qn.2 Risks associated with this type of partnership A partnership business can be a relationship disaster or a positive experience. For a partnership to be successful, all parties involved must agree on the same strategic direction of the company. Conflicts over money are one of the main reasons why business partnerships fail. The damage to business partnerships stem from the fact that each of the partners have different attitudes about money and therefore handle it in different ways. Control issues can also arise in case of partnerships. In this case, Insitu being the smaller firm may have lower control over certain things that may be of relevance to them. A winning business partnership capitalizes on the strengths and skills of each partner. Divide business roles according to each individuals strengths. E.g. one partner may be strong in marketing, operations and finance, the other sales, human resources and leadership. But this can result in problems for the smaller firm if the larger firm is being sold. Also there are chances of Boeing acquiring Insitu at a later stage and hence Insitu may cease to exist as a separate entity. Partnership can also result in conflicts which may be harmful to the business. These conflicts can lead to litigation that may result in more costly affairs. Another risk is that the smaller firm Insitu may learn the secrets of business during the period and hence result in becoming a completion for the larger business by the end of the term.