What are the challenges facing Jim Heal and Mike Thomas? Jim Heal of Hewlett-Packard, Inc (HP) and Mike Thomas of Cisco Systems, Inc (Cisco) were both leaders of strategic alliance management teams that were formed in early 1997. Both teams were created to help facilitate the strategic alliance that was formed between HP and Cisco. As with all alliances, a wide variety of issues and challenges emerged that had be to be resolved and it was the purpose of the alliance teams to solve such issues. Beginning in February 2002, a formal contract to expand the HP and Cisco alliance was being negotiated and it was during this time that several important challenges emerged that would require the full attention of Mr. Heal and Mr. Thomas. One …show more content…

If the sale of strategic alliance partner products only yields a bonus and do not positively impact the sales representative’s quota then it would appear that the strategic alliance partner’s products would not be a priority. On page nine of the case, Mr. Thomas outlines the issues facing the sales staff when there is a problem with a joint customer, a sales issue needs to be escalated, or when there is product overlap. In addition, on page nine Mr. Stephan from HP noted that all aspects of the sales model for each target market needed to be outlined completely for the alliance to be successful. For the strategic alliance to be successful, the challenge to be met is to create a new sales model that will enable both the sales representatives to be successful and for the HP-Cisco strategic alliance to realize revenue goals. Given that other alliances for both firms utilize dedicated sales staff, one would expect creation of a sales model that does use dedicated sales staff to be a challenge. If a dedicated HP-Cisco sales force will not be utilized, then Mr. Thomas and Mr. Heal must create a long-term high-trust relationship between the sales staff of both firms. In doing so, both sales forces will see each other as partners and recognize the greater value that both firms can provide by working together. A poorly created sales model or one that the sales staff does not support will not lead to a valuable strategic alliance. An additional