ALLIANTIST

"An excellent book providing a 'toolkit' of useful models substantiated with real world experience that will support any organisation wanting to ensure success from its alliances."

Steve Cash, General Manager, Partnering and SI Strategic Development, BT Global Services

"Alliances are important - and this book provides an excellent guide to their successful structure and management. But it offers much more. Darby's formula is critical to any manager or executive wrestling with the impacts of today's global, networked business environment and the need to find better ways to handle their portfolio of strategic and outsourced relationships."

Tim Cummins, CEO & Executive Director, International Association For Contract & Commercial Management

"Organisations need to collaborate at a strategic level more frequently than ever before. Whilst many people think alliances are easy, they are not and the consequences of failure can be pretty dire. Mark, with his innovative and holistic approach can help organisations gain real value from their partnering activity. This book should be required reading for any organisation that is serious about partnering and alliances."

David Johnson, Global Head of Marketing, Reuters Limited

"In Alliance Brand Mark has brought his knowledge and experience of alliances right to the fore of today's corporate agenda, focusing on a highly topical area of modern business and management. Essential reading for both academics and practitioners in the field."

Martin Aylward, Subject area leader, Strategic Direction, Henley Management College

"At A.S.A.P. we know that even those companies who have experience of Alliances still struggle with some of the concepts. Alliance Brand offers a good introduction on Alliances to those companies who have not yet started, and, with ALLIANTIST techniques in the second half of the book, it offers a road map to help all companies resolve many of today's issues in managing alliances."

Jim Whitehurst, Chairman, Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals (UK).

"Organisations can materially differentiate themselves and create competitive advantage with alliances. However few achieve it. Alliance Brand explains how they can. It offers insightful practical experience and proven tools along with underpinning theory, written in an engaging and straightforward way."

Richard Baker, Partner, Ernst & Young LLP

"It's great to see expert knowledge presented in a comprehensive and compelling manner that is easy to draw value from, whether you are a partnering novice or an alliance veteran."

Phil Garlick, President OneSource Information Services Inc.

"Alliances offer great promise yet rarely achieve their desired results. This book demonstrates how organisations can win with alliances and is a valuable companion for all business leaders."

Leonard Stall, Chairman, Institute of Directors, Sussex

"The Public Sector need not be afraid of building partnerships to achieve best value, it’s critical to develop and sustain benefits for both suppliers and consumers. Alliance Brand offers a powerful approach for the assessment and application of partnering strategies."

Paul Davies, Director, Procurement Excellence in the Police Service (PEPS)

"It is not enough to bring big names together simply because it seems to make sense. An alliance must create a value proposition that could not have existed within either enterprise. Mark Darby’s practitioner expertise and extensive research have brought him unique insights. Using accurate and dynamic models, he provides us with powerful tools to address the tough questions that the daily business of alliance management obscures."

Jonathan Cohen, Practice Principal, HP

"SEEDA is dependent on alliances for success. Mark Darby helped our Enterprise Team make positive strides forward. We have enthusiastically embraced his advice, and his book can help you to also get great results from alliances and a positive reputation for partnering."

Jeff Alexander, Executive Director, Business and International, SEEDA

"Alliances provide the opportunity for both commercial and not-for-profit organisations to build competitive advantage, increase sustainability and brand value. However building the necessary relationships can be a high risk undertaking for all sides. Mark Darby brings insight tempered by his extensive experience to guide directors and managers when considering the strategic and operational implications of this option for their business."

David Yates, President, Chartered Institute of Marketing, Sussex

"FDM has relationships with companies that have resource constraints at the point of software product implementation. We built our unique IT staffing ‘Mountie’ model on the principal of alliances embedding it into our company’s culture and philosophy. We have worked extensively with ALLIANTIST to shape and refine this approach. Alliance Brand shows you how to build that partnering capability too."

Rod Flavell, CEO, FDM Group Limited

"ALLIANCE BRAND achieves three things. First, it helps optimise ROI from alliances at an operational level. Second, it provides for good corporate governance. Third, and probably most important, alliances are now part of the business planning strategic agenda. Get this right and the other two fall into place. Mark shows you how to do it all in this book."

Antonio Betes, CEO, Vetlab Services Limited

"As an SME we work closely with a number of partners but don't have the budgets that many large corporates might have for alliance management. However, our reputation as the dispensing solution partner of choice for our customers, suppliers and stockists relies on us continuing to develop our capability and invest in those relationships. By working with Mark and following his philosophy we have got smarter about where we invest and how we work internally as well as with our partners, to great effect. His philosophy is not just for the large corporates; everyone who partners, especially SMES, will need a positive reputation for alliance management just to compete in the future, let alone prosper. Buying this book and applying his simple yet effective methods could be the best return on investment you ever make."

Stephen Woolmer, Managing Director, Brightwell Dispensers Limited