Once a partner has been selected, the alliance should be structured so that the firm’s risks of giving too much away to the partner are reduced to an acceptable level. First, alloances can be designed to make it difficult, if not immpossible, to transfer technology not meant to be transferred. The design, development, manufacture, and service of aproduct manufactured by an alliance can be structured so as to wall off sensitive technologies to prevent their leakage to the orther participant. In an allianc between General Electric and Snecma to build commercial aircraft engines, for example, GE reduced the risk of excess transfer by walling off certain sections of the production process. The modularization effectively cut off the transfer of what GE regarded as key competieive technology, while permitting Snecma access t final assembly. Similarly, in the alliance between Boeing and the Japanese to build the 767, Boeing walled off research, design, and marketing funtions considered central to its competitive position, while allowing the Japanese to share in production technology. Boeing also walled off new technologies not required for 767 production.