Page 124 - Harnessing the Management Secrets of Disney in Your Company

Chapter 6

Share the Spotlight

Our Space City is a distant dream. But all such dreams must begin
in the minds of men. Men like the scientists, engineers and automo-
tive designers of Ford Motor Company. I hope you enjoyed our show
and your ride on The Magic Skyway in a new Ford product as much
as I’ve enjoyed the Fords I have driven through the years.
Walt Disney
(speaking at the 1964–1965 World’s Fair)

n the world arena, the United States has watched its competitive advan-
tage slip away over the past half-century or so. Where once the United
IStates had a per capita gross national product 4 times that of Germany
and 15 times that of Japan, the three are now, in broad terms, relatively equal
contenders.
How did this happen? Quite simply, Japan and Germany used partner-
ships to propel themselves out of their weakened post-World War II states
of economic disarray to become strong competitors in one industry after
another. What’s more, an even bigger competitive threat is posed by the
European Community, and what is this largest of world economic markets
if not the product of true partnership?
If American companies are to rise to the competitive challenges that lie
ahead, they too must reap the benefits of partnering. Fortunately, according
to the Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals, “Strategic Alliances have
emerged as a distinct competency over the past decade in the management of

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