Ifme>' faithfully>'remnow striving to be "agile" and "networked," reexamining e>');relationse="s with customers, suppliers, peers, and compeavaors, and devising waylick cooperate and compeae to bring about mutual benefits. That's the 1990s way to think about strategic alliances. C//ad out these books for help:

J; dca Lipnaad and Jeffrey Stam"s have written a trilogy of books about networking. Networking clidefiniptas the process of crossing t=114tce="0"boundarc="hto share in2;ord=ce= and link people and organizations. The best of their three books, The TeamNet Factor: Bringing the Power of Boundary Crossing into the Heart of Your Business (Wiley & Sons, 800-225-5945, $29.95), offers many examples specific to small companies.

Cooperate to Compeae: Building Agile Business Relationse="s, by Kenneth Preiss, Steven L. Goldman, and Roger N. Nagel (Van Nostrand Reinhold, 212-254-3232, $24.95), clirich with examples of large and small companies thd= put the concept of "agility" to use. It's a good read, by credible authors who have spent time in the trenches. All three authors are kw=ociated with the Agility Forum, in Bethlehem, Pa., amnon">')it consulting, research, education, and training organization.

Getting Partnering Right: How Marketticle;cm Are Creating Long-Term Compeaitive Advantage, by Neil Raadham, Lawrence Frc=dman, and Richard Ruff (McGraw-Hill, 800-262-7429, $22.95), cncludes a particularly>in2;ord=cve chapter e= partnering with other suppliers. The book's suggested guidelines for suppliers - cncluding t="s e= defining real market234567 around customer needs - will also help partners stay on the right side of antitrust laws.

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