Unconventional Strategic Alliance of Amazon, Berkshire, and JP Morgan

The purpose of this paper is to explore and examine the newly formed strategic alliance by Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway (Berkshire) and JPMorgan through the lens of strategic alliance, corporate philanthropy, and corporate social responsibility. This is an analytical case study that examines the existing scholarly articles in strategic alliances, corporate philanthropy, and corporate social responsibility to describe and analyze the strategic alliance o Amazon, Berkshire, and JPMorgan. There is a clear limitation in explaining this type of unconventional strategic alliance with exiting definitions and concepts of conventional strategic alliances. However, the objective and nature of this strategic alliance based on the brief analysis indicate that this particular strategic alliance is the result of an effort to resolve a social problem, the ineffective healthcare system in the U.S., rather than focusing on business benefits and profits. The formation of a strategic alliance by Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway (Berkshire) and JPMorgan to create a non-profit independent healthcare company for improving healthcare for their domestic employees is a textbook example of social innovation, wherein three companies form an alliance to tackle the most challenging social problem in the United States. The three companies have the necessary resources, technology, finances, and logistics to form and execute the strategic alliance and its operations.