Final answer:
A strategic alliance where similar companies in alike industries pool resources to gain mutual benefits, such as economies of scale, is a mutual service consortia. This alliance allows members to influence industry-wide issues and achieve competitive advantages that are otherwise too costly to develop alone.
Step-by-step explanation:
The kind of strategic alliance in which similar companies in similar industries pool their resources to gain a benefit that would be too costly to develop independently is known as a mutual service consortia.
Similar companies join together to form this type of alliance for several reasons. There is strength in numbers, and companies often face common challenges that affect an entire industry. By banding together, they can more effectively influence government policies and protect against market fluctuations. Additionally, by sharing resources, they all benefit from economies of scale, which means that as the output scale increases, the average production costs decrease.
This advantage is particularly significant in industries where economies of scale play a role in giving competitive leverage but are too expensive for individual firms to achieve on their own. Mutual service consortia can also provide benefits such as technology sharing, enhanced product development capabilities, and shared manufacturing facilities, enhancing market presence and reducing risks through collective effort. Furthermore, this strategic alliance does not prevent the companies from competing with each other in the market, as they maintain their independence while reaping shared benefits.