TRP 350: Value Creation Through Strategic Alliances with Kyle Harkema

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Most strategic alliances look perfect on paper. Six months in, they’re falling apart — and nobody knows why.

Dr. Kyle Harkema is the author of Strategic Clarity: The Practical Method for Transforming Vision into Results and a scholar-practitioner with a doctorate in business administration. In this episode, he joins Scott Love to break down why alliances fail — and the exact behavioral framework leaders need to build partnerships that actually deliver.

What you’ll learn:

Why alliances fail even when the strategic logic is sound — and what’s really going wrong

The one sentence that reveals whether your alliance is ready: “Because we’re working together, our customer can now ___”

The 5 trust-building questions every alliance must answer before work begins

Why lagging KPIs (revenue, EBITDA) are the wrong place to start — and what leading indicators to watch instead

The warning signs that a partnership is breaking down: multiplying meetings, slowing decisions, and information that stops flowing cleanly

When and how to structure revenue share, licensing, or a joint venture spin-off

Why a contract preserves the friendship — and how to structure one that holds up when priorities conflict