Philips teams up with Microsoft, Sony

Philips has announced its formation of corporate alliances with industry giants Microsoft, Sony, Sun and 3M in order to take advantage of the new opportunities of the digital age. The Corporate Alliances office within Philips Corporate Strategy has been tapped to facilitate the company's relationships with its key strategic partners.

According to Krish Gopola of the Corporate Alliances office, "All performance-driven corporations have a vision and well laid-out goals as to how to maximize the digital age's potential. Admittedly, no company can say they can do it alone. So one way of looking at realities is to capture this value potential by working together with other key players in order to spread our net wider and catch more of these opportunities."

Industry observers noted Philips' move is particularly relevant in today's situation with the convergence of consumer electronics, computing technologies and the Internet. Logic dictates that it not only makes sense to forge close relationships with other key players in the market, it is to some extent unavoidable, which is why Philips' alliance with major companies is a sound one.

"Consistency in contacts is essential for the success of strategic alliances, as we run into them in many markets, standardization bodies and sales situations," Microsoft Program Office director Willem Bulthuis said. "We are now organized to build up mutual understanding, work towards real win-win situations, and spot potential conflicts early."

Conflicting interests are natural in any large company and the Corporate Alliances office takes on the challenge for Philips to balance its own strength and interests with those of the others so it can strike the most effective partnerships.

"Successful corporate alliances are founded on honesty and trust on both sides, something that has to be built up over time. It is often a challenge to maintain that trust. That's why good internal communications between alliance partners is required," Gopola said.

According to Sony's Vic Tee, "Corporate alliances are a case of knowing the jungle you live in and all the creatures on the jungle. You need to do things in the marketplace to ensure that the standards you define and set up have the highest possibility of success. And that's what keeps Sony and Philips glued together."

"3M and Philips have so much in common," says Guy Kerpen, Philips Corporate Relationship manager for 3M. "Not only were both companies founded as family businesses some 100 years ago, both are characterized by a very innovative culture coupled with a very market-driven approach."

Kerpen added this similarity in culture is the main reason why the alliance of innovating together will lead to many successful projects for the companies in the years to come.