A joint venture is a legal entity two or more parties form to cooperatively pursue an economic opportunity. Both parties contribute equity in the form of assets and/or services. Then they share in the revenues, expenses, and control of the enterprise. The venture can be for one specific project only, or a continuing business relationship. On example is the Sony Ericsson joint venture. This is in contrast to a strategic alliance; which involves no equity stake by the participants, and is a much less rigid arrangement. Typically the parties will form a corporation or LLC to pursue the venture and to protect the parties from liability.

Organizations other than businesses can also form joint ventures; for example, a child welfare organization in the Midwest initiated a joint venture with other child welfare organizations, etc., whose mission is to develop and service client tracking software for human service organizations. The five partners all sit on the joint venture corporation’s board, and together have been able to provide the community with a much-needed resource.

When are Joint Ventures Used

Joint ventures are common in the oil and gas industry, and are often cooperations between local and foreign companies. About three-fourths are international. A joint venture is often seen as a very viable business alternative in this sector, as the companies can complement their skill sets while it offers the foreign company a geographic presence. Studies show a failure rate of 30-61%, and that 60% failed to start or faded away within 5 years. (Osborn, 2003) It is also known that Joint ventures in low-developed countries show a greater instability, and that JVs involving government partners have higher incidence of failure (private firms seem to be better equipped to supply key skills, marketing networks, etc.) Furthermore, JVs have shown to fail miserably under highly volatile demand and rapid changes in product technology.

Advantages to Forming a Joint Venture

Disadvantages of Joint Venture