This report was commissioned in order to inform the preparation of the European University Alliance CHARM-EU’s governance and management model, by providing innovative ideas and lessons learned on how other strategic alliances respond to the challenges of governance in a diverse and multicentric environment. Governing and managing strategic alliances is extremely challenging, particularly when an alliance brings together a huge variety of partners which are themselves decentralised organisations. There are no blueprint solutions. However, it is important to learn from the experience, both by monitoring projects within CHARM-EU and by seeking inspiration from other alliances. In the field of higher education, research and innovation, our benchmark focuses on three strategic alliances (Eucor, U4Society Network, EIT Health). Beyond the higher education sector, we explore the logic of strategic alliances in the private sector.