Conversely it may be bad news for Wall Street bankers who have waxed wealthy from mergers and acquisitions but have little to offer in forming partnerships. In many ways, partnering is relatively uncharted territory. It isn't much taught in most management schools. There are a lot of unknowns and potential pitfalls. You can't run a successful alliance practice with lawyers.
Alliances are about means.
As a discipline, partnering is still underdeveloped. Unfortunately, most alliances are left to the corporate finance guy in the business development department. This is a core competency and it needs to be addressed at a strategic level. And Peter Drucker points out that many partnerships will face the real test after they have achieved initial success. Once the money starts coming in, goals change and partners often squabble.