Article Abstract:
Corporations are making more international alliances in order to penetrate foreign markets with less financial risk. AT & T has made a deal with NEC Corp to trade some of AT&T's computer-aided design (CAD) technology for some of NEC's advanced logic chips, a product that AT&T wants to market. Such cross-border ventures have been around for a long time, but recently, more have appeared. Daimler-Benz AG of West Germany and Mitsubishi of Japan are considering various joint projects including autos and aircraft. The trend to cross-border ventures has been galvanized by the prospects of the post-1992 European Market, as well as by upheavals in the East bloc countries. One cross-cultural venture has failed, apparently because of a conceptual flaw. The partnership between AT&T and Ing C. Olivetti & Co was based on the assumption that two industries - computers and telecommunications - were converging. Olivetti now is convinced that they are not.
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Article Abstract:
IBM and AT&T have announced an agreement to cooperate in the area of network management. Many analysts believe the trend towards larger and more complex networks, and the use of computers to manage them, is behind the agreement. IBM is also expected to announce its re-entry into the world of laptop computers. While the market for network management is certainly not huge, those companies competing for market share do so with a view to future additions should they gain control of the core networks. Many analysts believe that a consequence of an IBM-AT&T accord would be the virtual standardization of much of the network management market, because both companies are leaders in the field.
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Article Abstract:
The alliance between Apple Computer Inc and IBM, if it is successful, could change the way US companies do business. The idea that companies can be stronger if they cooperate - an idea that works well in Japan - is hard to accept in a culture that values independence and competition. IBM represents the establishment in corporate America, and Apple signifies the entrepreneur. IBM is viewed as rigid, and Apple is seen as quirky. IBM and Apple will, no doubt, experience much difficulty trying to get along. They can only succeed if they put their alliance ahead of everything else.
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