Consortium

What Is a Consortium?

A consortium is a group comprised of at least two people, companies, or governments that cooperate to achieving a common objective. Substances that partake in a consortium pool resources yet are generally just responsible for the obligations that are set out in the consortium's agreement. Each entity that is under the consortium, in this manner, stays independent concerning their normal business operations and has no say over one more part's operations that are not connected with the consortium.

Consortiums Explained

Consortiums are many times found in the non-profit sector, for instance, among instructive institutions. Instructive consortiums frequently pool resources like libraries, research activities, and teachers and share them all through the individuals from the group to benefit their understudies. Several groups of North American colleges and universities operate as consortiums.

For instance, the Five College Consortium in Massachusetts incorporates the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Mount Holyoke College, Hampshire College, Smith College, and Amherst College as individuals. Understudies going to any of those institutions can go to classes at some other partnered school for credit at no extra cost. Such instructive consortiums include partnerships between institutions that are close to each other. Other college consortia incorporate The Quaker Consortium, The Claremont Colleges, and the Big Ten Academic Alliance.

Special Considerations

Consortiums and For-Profit Businesses

Corporate, for-benefit consortiums additionally exist, however they are less predominant. One of the most well known revenue driven consortiums is the airline manufacturer Airbus Industrie GIE. European aviation manufacturers team up inside the consortium to create and sell commercial aircraft.

Showing the complexity of such an arrangement, the four partner companies in Airbus (British Aerospace, A\u00e9rospatiale, Construcciones Aeron\u00e1uticas SA, and DASA) were all the while subcontractors to and shareholders of the consortium. This arrangement brought about certain irreconcilable circumstances and failures as well as the possible shift to Airbus SAS in 2001, which saw a consolidation of the original consortium individuals and a reduction in overheads.

In the United States, the video web-based feature Hulu is a consortium of big media companies including Comcast, Time Warner, the Walt Disney Company, and 21st Century Fox.

Fast Fact

Rather than a joint venture, consortiums act independently in their everyday operations.

Consortiums and Government

Governments and private endeavors frequently team up to form standards for manufacturing, food production, product similarity, consumer safety, and then some. In such coordinated efforts, a government use its buying power as a consumer to make standards.

Countries that foster standards enjoy a competitive upper hand over those that don't, and countries and industries that consent to a worldwide standard are in many cases leaders in international trade. The creation of standards can lead to expected abuse and antitrust concerns, notwithstanding. In the United States, the legal preparation for joint efforts and consortiums is found in the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission's Antitrust Guidelines for Collaborations Among Competitors.

Governments and private ventures frequently team up to figure out standards for industries; in doing as such, the government use its buying power as a consumer to make standards.

Consortiums Versus Joint Ventures

While consortiums will more often than not share resources, they act independently with regards to everyday operations. In a joint venture (JV), at least two gatherings generally share ownership in a venture, alongside risks, profits, losses, and governance.

Features

• Consortiums are common among instructive institutions that pool resources so understudies can benefit from a more extensive scope of assets.
• Instances of revenue driven consortiums are Airbus Industrie GIE, made out of the companies British Aerospace, A\u00e9rospatiale, Construcciones Aeron\u00e1uticas SA, and Hulu, made out of Comcast, Time Warner, the Walt Disney Company, and 21st Century Fox.
• A consortium is a group of elements that team up to accomplish a common objective.