They were hands-off. Companies fall in love with the idea of creating value, but lose sight of the prospects of the alliance. But one year later, Motorola and Cisco called off the partnership because there was no one to sell its services to. Their early enthusiasm blinded them to the fact that service providers were not yet willing to pay for the sort of expensive equipment Spectrapoint would make. Motorola and Cisco believed in the hype and made a mistake.
Partners allow underperforming ventures to go on indefinitely without any clear benefits.
For 25 years it was unclear how much benefit GM derived. Its cars, such as the Geo Storm and Chevy Luv, were dismal failures. Today, GM has increased its stake in Isuzu, and an alliance executive manages the relationship. The success of the alliance competes with one of its partners. When alliances become successful, partners' goals can change.