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One of the great challenges of the companies to maximize its capability of innovation, an urgent necessity in current days, is the development of mechanisms that allow the complementing of competences between two or more companies. One of these mechanisms is the strategic alliances for new product development, a relatively recent phenomenon and one that already can be considered as a trend in research and development (R&D) decisions. The focus of the present work is the analysis of these strategic alliances, through the study of the existing theory, causing important reflections to emerge and generating new contributions. The scope of the study is, with no doubt, a deeper understanding of the subject. Moreover, the existing variables in the phenomenon are studied and organized, so that this contributes to arrive at the decisions concerning the most suitable organizational format for strategic alliances for new product development (NPD).

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Professor (PhD) at University of SÆo Paulo (USP), School of Business and Economics (FEA-RP), Brazil. Involved in teaching and researching Strategy, Cooperation, Alliances and Sustainability. Coordinates a research group that studies the Sugar, Ethanol and Bioenergy Industry, with themes such as sustainability, market, labor market, among others.

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