their goals and objectives are realistic and feasible. Dedicated negotiation teams are formed which determine each partner's role in the alliance like contribution and reward, penalties and retaining companies´ interests. Operation In this phase in the life of a strategic alliance, an internal structure occurs under which its functions develop. While operating it, the alliance becomes an own new organization itself with members from the origin companies with the aim of meeting all previously set objectives and improving the overall performance of the alliance which requires effective structures and processes and a good, strong and reliable leadership. Budges have to be linked, as well as resources which are strategically most important and the performance of the alliance has to be measured and assessed. Alliance structuring and governance This phase focuses on creating frameworks both legally and organizational for the strategic alliance relationship, on agreeing and finalizing operational plans, making sure that key leadership is in place, and creating a formula for risk-and-reward that will motivates both parties to make the relationship a success. This phase ends with the contract being signed. Steps include: Governance, integration, and control Organizational structure and support Win-win business analysis Legal agreements End/development There are several ways that a strategic alliance can come to an end: Natural end: When the objectives the strategic alliance was founded for have been achieved, and no further cooperation is necessary or beneficial for the involved enterprises the alliance can come to a natural end. An example for such a natural end is the alliance between Dassault and British Aerospace which was founded to manufacture the Jaguar fighter aircraft. After the end of the program no further jets were ordered so the involved companies ended their cooperation. Extension: After the end of the actual reason for the alliance, the cooperating enterprises decide to extend the cooperation for following generations of a respective product or expand the alliance to new products or projects. Renault for example worked together with Matra on three successive generations of their Espace minivan, whereas Airbus expanded its cooperation to include a complete family of airplanes. Premature termination: In this case the Strategic Alliance is ended before the actual objectives of its existence have been achieved. In 1987 Matra-Harris and Intel broke up their Cimatel partnership before one of the planned VLSI chips was manufactured. Exclusive continuation: If one partner decides to get out of the alliance before