Confronted with an increasingly competitive business environment at both national and international levels, corporations of all sizes are finding collaboration, teaming, and partnering more and more important, both tactically and strategically. Corporations increasingly recognize that the larger-scale, longer-term business opportunities critical to their continued growth often demand a broader range of talent and expertise than they can offer individually. Firms in a particular business sector that once competed against a well-known set of competitors in a well-understood environment, now face changing market conditions that demand complicated, sometimes unusual partnering arrangements to meet customer needs. In response, many corporations are forming "strategic alliances" - business relationships that are expected to be long-term, mutually beneficial, and compatible with each partner's strategic plan and business objectives, while fostering growth and diversification that is mutually reinforcing.