Development of joint venture partner capabilities assessment model: The case of Eskom Enterprises, South Africa

One of the main challenges in joint ventures collaboration is how to assess partners¿ capabilities so as to have a win-win business venture. The success of a joint venture depends on the technological, financial and cultural synergy created by individual contributions of partners. Experience shows that it is easy to achieve financial parity in terms of capital outlay, but rather more difficult to achieve strategic parity in terms of technological and human capital investments. This paper discuses the joint venture partner model for partners¿ capabilities assessment. The focus will be on assessment of the partners¿ technological capabilities. For clarity, a single partner capabilities assessment is discussed, the modalities of assessment are explained, and the case study of Eskom Enterprises (EE) (Pty) Ltd and an African power sector is discussed.