Article at a glance:

Alliances in consumer goods

CEOs of consumer-packaged-goods companies have generally preferred acquisitions and mergers to partnerships, but that's changing. Pressures to increase earnings and a general paucity of M&A targets are leading to more alliances—with happy results.

The take-away

McKinsey studied the alliances of 77 leading consumer and packaged-goods companies and found that, on average, the more alliances they had the better the total return to shareholders. What’s more, these companies are capturing a first-mover advantage by locking in the best partners.