Intra-Industry Alliances
IT can facilitate cooperation among mid-size firms within an industry so they can survive by achieving economies of scale in software development that they could never have achieved by themselves.
Example: the Finnish paper industry. To improve customer service by speeding order processing, 19 companies joined together to link themselves electronically to a series of national sales offices and 400 customers.
This is a defensive coalition that will allow the Finnish paper industry to continue to compete in the world-class arena.