Pointers for a Good Marriage—or Business Deal

With visions of June brides dancing in her head, Harvard Business School professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter has advice for newlyweds. Her 15 pointers apply equally well to companies executing deals—not mergers, in which "one company disappears," but alliances and partnerships. Some highlights, from the Harvard Business Review:

• Make yourself more attractive: "Identify assets that have value to partners and strengthen them. Networks of the weak do not survive."

• Be ready to change: "Partners must be willing to be influenced by one another."
• Keep an open mind: "People from across the partnership network must become teachers as well as learners."
• Be flexible: "Formal agreements can't anticipate everything."
• Know when to get out: "Commit to remain friends if changing conditions require a graceful exit."

To see the complete list, click here.
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