Alliance Principles
- Trust
- Common Objectives
- Mutual Need
- Growing & Stretching Together
- Long-Term Commitment
- Continuous scanning for new opportunities
- Win/Win/Win (1+1=3)
-- Jordan D. Lewis, Ph.D.
The parable of the orange
Author and consultant Jordan Lewis tells a simple story to illustrate the power
and potential of strategic alliances. Imagine two pairs of individuals, each with
an orange, and both pairs anxious to make the most of it.
The first pair quickly strikes a 50-50 compromise and cuts the orange in half, each
partner free to enjoy his half as he sees fit. While they are congratulating themselves
on their reasonable approach, they see that the other pair, in talking things over,
has discovered that one partner wants to make orange juice, while the other would
rather have the rind for marmalade. So they use the whole orange for orange juice,
and the whole orange for marmalade.
Put simply, a strategic alliance is a relationship between firms to create more
value than they can on their own. A chance encounter with Jordan Lewis in 1992 eventually
led to a transformation in the way PHTS does business. Inspired by Dr. Lewis’s insight
that trust and cooperation should be the cornerstones of business strategy, we formed
PHT Services, Ltd. entirely from strategic alliances as we advanced from being simply
a workers' compensation company to becoming a diversified corporation that provides
South Carolina's healthcare industry a variety of services in risk management.
"PHTS Shows the Sum is Greater Than its Parts" (SC Chamber of Commerce Member Spotlight article, June 2007)