Forming a Strategic Partnership & Best PowerPoint Templates

Forming strategic partnerships can allow your business to grow. You can have strategic partnership agreements which are financial or technical in nature. Such partnerships can be associated with marketing, supply chain, product development, engineering and other aspects of a business. In this article we will tell you all you need to know about forming a strategic partnership, followed by some of the best strategic partnership PowerPoint templates.

What is a Strategic Partnership?

A strategic partnership is an arrangement which usually consists of one or more contracts between two organizations. Strategic partnerships can be of different types, ranging from a simple shake hand agreement to joint ventures, contractual cooperation and even equity alliance.

Strategic partnerships entail companies making use of their business assets or expertise to achieve mutually beneficial goals. For example, this might include one company helping the other to expand its business so that it can provide a stable supply of high-quality inputs to the other company. Similarly, companies might aim to innovate for developing new products, share technology and cater for complementary services.

forming a strategic partnership

Key Components Involving a Strategic Partnership

A strategic partnership has a few key components which form the basis for the partnership. Below are a few key components that usually entail a strategic partnership.

Goals

Strategic partnerships entail goals for companies coming together in a partnership. Sometimes a large company might help a small corporation in the hope of reaping long-term benefits, or two large corporations might join hands for innovation, growing their business and market. Either way, goals are one of the key components of a strategic partnership. Be it cross promotion, market outreach, business growth or supply chain management, a strategic partnership will always have some type of benefit for both parties based on common goals.

Core Values

Companies try to form strategic partnerships with other companies which might share their core values. While this might not always be the case, usually companies would look for partners which align with their core values. Not doing so can result in consumer backlash, legal hurdles and long-term issues in conducting business.

A company focused on conserving the environment would not fare well with its consumers by engaging in a strategic partnership with a company known to have a troublesome track record on pollution and social responsibility. Similarly, working with some companies might have legal hurdles, especially if they belong to countries which might be on international financial blacklists or suffer from sanctions. Sometimes, charges of espionage and allegations of working with companies of rival countries can be an issue. The most recent example of this is the issue of American companies working with Huawei due to national security concerns raised by the U.S. Government.

Assets

Each firm entering the strategic partnership will have some type of assets to offer. One company’s prestige and brand value might be useful for a new company looking to make a name for itself. The latter might have something to offer in return, such as a promising product, labour, equipment or efficient supply of goods. Assets might be tangible or intangible in nature and can include anything from expertise and finance to technology, infrastructure, brand value, etc.

Audience

Companies entering in a partnership are likely to focus on a similar audience. A software company might enter a strategic partnership with a hardware manufacturer to target a similar audience, i.e. people who buy computers.

partnership agreement

Documents Involving a Strategic Partnership

There are a number of documents involving a strategic partnership. These documents define the overall scope, legal requirements and other fine details of the partnership and outline how each partner might perform a role in the partnership.

Memorandum of Understanding

This is usually the first step towards formalizing a strategic partnership. While an MoU is not legally binding, it outlines the broad outlines for the partnership and indicates the possibility of a wider contract in the near future.

Contract Proposal

Since both companies might need to negotiate terms, resolve disputes or manage certain legal aspects of their business, a legal agreement or contract is likely to be signed between both parties. The contract can be simple or complex, depending upon the various technical and legal requirements associated with licensing, branding, marketing, intellectual property protection, etc.

Other Documents

Depending on the scope of the partnership, organizations might have shareholder agreements, licensing agreements, supply agreements, etc. The contract(s) and related documents define the scope of the partnership, the way business is conducted, rights of each party and the method for dispute resolution. When entering into a limited partnership, you will need to use the services of a registered agent for receiving legal, governmental, and taxing authority correspondence, such as lawsuits, summonses, tax notices, and notices of regulatory changes. The registered agent is then responsible for disseminating this information to the partners.

Illustration of two business men closing a deal and using a Contract as part of a strategic partnership

Examples of Strategic Partnerships

There are several examples of strategic partnerships which have been mutually beneficial for businesses. Below are a few of the most famous strategic partnerships which have had a lasting impact on the lives of millions of consumers around the globe. 

Microsoft and Intel

Microsoft and Intel during the 1980s entered a strategic partnership which is known as Wintel due to the famous Windows operating system and Intel processors. This partnership allowed Intel to produce hardware for Windows based operating systems, which resulted in one of the most successful strategic partnerships between two companies. Windows based Intel computers eventually became a household item and utility across a variety of businesses. Wintel has been the world’s leading strategic partnership in computer manufacturing, with home based Windows OS to Professional operating systems and Windows based servers powering billions of machines around the globe.

Luxottica and Google

Google is famous for its search but not fashion, whereas Luxottica is famous for its eyeglasses. Hence, the famous eyewear brand entered a strategic partnership with Google to design smart eyewear. This is one of the best examples of two companies coming together for a strategic partnership to offer something the other lacks. In order to innovate and break into a new market, i.e. the market for wearable smart devices.

Hewlett-Packard and Disney

Over the years Disney has heavily relied on HP for its IT infrastructure. Over the years HP has provided Disney with thousands of servers, printers and even collaborated for creating the ride control system for Mission: Space. The collaboration between the two companies, which was later formalized as a strategic partnership has a long history. Since it was HP which sold Disney an oscillator in 1937 for making the Disney classic Fantasia.

Apple Pay and MasterCard

By entering into a strategic partnership with MasterCard, Apple Pay was able to widen its payment mechanism for users using an iPhone or Apple Watch. Unlike using card numbers, Apple Pay gives users a unique account number, with specific security codes related to each purchase. What makes the process quite secure is the fact that data is not stored on Apple servers or with any merchant. This ensures that the user’s identity and card number is not compromised.

The strategic partnership between Apple and MasterCard has helped Apple benefit from a secure system which can be free from skimming frauds, whereas MasterCard has been able to benefit by providing services to Apple Pay in a similar manner to how AT&T became the first company exclusively offering iPhones among US carriers.

Example of an ecommerce transaction showing two computers and hands completing an online transaction, as part of a strategic agreement.

Best Strategic Partnership PowerPoint Templates

You may have an upcoming MoU signing or you might need to create a presentation to discuss a strategic partnership with another company. Either way, a good PowerPoint template can help you create a professional presentation within a matter of minutes. You can find the right strategic partnership PowerPoint template for the job from our list of the Best Strategic Partnership PowerPoint Templates.

Creative Hand Shaking Shapes for PowerPoint

This is a PowerPoint template with illustrations of hand shaking, with icons representing business, technology, finance, real estate, etc. With its creatively designed layouts, this creative hands template can be useful for making presentations about strategic partnerships with hand shaking illustrations and symbolic icons. This is a rather minimalist template, with attractive presentation layouts for quickly creating a presentation associated with business, strategic partnerships, financial contracts, technology transfer, etc.

creative hand shaking shapes for powerpoint

Go to Download Creative Hand Shaking Shapes for PowerPoint

Small Business PowerPoint Template

Many small businesses often benefit from strategic partnerships. This is a trend that has been catching up and in a recent development the world’s largest retailer Amazon has even begun encouraging its employees to start their own delivery business with Amazon’s funding. This is meant to enhance its delivery capacity with the help of new delivery businesses.

The Small Business PowerPoint Template with more than 40 slides is a fully loaded template for businesses to pitch their ideas or create strategic partnership slides with a detailed overview of their business, ideas, capability, product and services. The dozens of slides in this template can ensure that you have all that you need for making presentations for a variety of business specific topics. You can also make this your go to template by reusing it for different topics.

small business powerpoint template

Go to Download Small Business PowerPoint Template

Supply Chain Annual Report PowerPoint Template

This is a comprehensive template for making reports like an annual report on supply chain. Since many strategic partnership agreements are associated with supply chains, the template can help create slides about one or more such agreements, ongoing activities and the impact of such agreements. The template contains two dozen slides with charts, comparison slides, useful icons and more.

supply chain powerpoint template

Go to Download Supply Chain Annual Report PowerPoint Template

Animated Business Puzzles PowerPoint Template

This presentation template for PowerPoint provides puzzle themed illustrations and layouts. You can use this slide deck for making strategic partnership related presentations using animated layouts and infographic slides. The template makes it easy to create custom infographics to explain important bits of information in simplified slide layouts. You can easily incorporate details of your strategic partnership and customize the animated slides according to need.

business puzzles

Go to Presenter Media – Animated Business Puzzles PowerPoint Template

Animated Helping Hand PowerPoint Template

Sometimes a strategic partnership entails one company helping the other in the hope of long-term financial benefits. This template captures this concept perfectly with the animation of a stick figure helping another over a bundle of money. With charts, diagrams, money clipart, finance themed illustrations and editable tables, this template can be a great slide deck for strategic partnership presentations.

animated helping hand powerpoint template

Go to Presenter Media – Animated Helping Hand PowerPoint Template

Animated Business Doodles PowerPoint Template

Business doodles is an interesting concept for a PowerPoint template. This template gives business themed layouts in the form of doodles. These are animated doodle slides which you can easily edit with your own information by editing the given slides. You can create strategic partnership associated content using this doodle template which is bound to be attention grabbing.

animated business doodles powerpoint template

Go to Presenter Media – Animated Business Doodles PowerPoint Template

Conclusion

Strategic partnerships can help bring together two organizations for mutual benefits aligned against specific goals. Such partnerships are meant for long-term gains with usually little or no major outcomes in the short-term. A strategic partnership can bring together companies to collaborate on technology, improve financial management, achieve business growth, enter new markets and the like. Strategic partnerships can often stem from small collaborations, followed by an MoU, which is usually followed by a wide agreement.

By aligning itself with strategic partners both small and large corporations can achieve long-term goals which can have a major impact on both organizations. However, strategic partnerships can also result in shared risks and negative outcomes. While the strategic partnership between Microsoft and Intel was a success, the same cannot be said about Microsoft’s partnership with Nokia. The strategic partnership that started in 2011 ended up causing Nokia’s global brand value to decline to 98th by 2014. This was a sharp decline from its 5th position in year 2009. The partnership spelled failure for both companies, with Microsoft losing out on the smartphone market and Nokia declining from one of the top mobile phone manufacturers in the world to a company that few even consider worth mentioning as a player in the industry.

If you’re looking to make presentations to pitch ideas to an investor, you might want to checkout our list for the Best Pitch Deck PowerPoint Templates. For more strategic partnership related presentations, see the link below.

About Farshad

IT professional, communications specialist and Blogger!

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