When consideringthe number of movements, schools and wars of position, the professional field of strategic management would appear to be maturing. Four views of the strategy development process can be distinguished: rational planning, planning as a guided learning process, planning on the basis of logical incrementalism and emergent strategy formation. All four of these views play a role: rationality, learning experience and spontaneity supplement one another.

This article presents a framework for structuring and supporting the complex and dynamic process of alliance building. Fit is the key concept in this framework, which is based on an extensive literature study and in-depth case studies. The concept of "fit" is not new in itself. The added value of this article is, firstly, that it identifies different aspects of fit and their interrelationships, as well as providing an insight into the drivers for fit. Here, we focus on strategic and organisational fit in particular. Secondly, we make practical recommendations for alliance managers on how to actually manage fit. k c