Joint ventures and strategic alliances offer the benefits of M&A – access to necessary resources – without the irrevocable commitment and timeconsuming integration inherent to M&A. Collaboration and trust are key to getting the most out of these new relationships, and both collaboration and trust (through better communications) are facilitated by internet enabled tools. These tools also enable the creation of specific new organisational forms, such as industry consortia and virtual organisations. (PDF 114KB)