This paper introduces a framework for understanding managers’ perspectives of strategic alliances. It complements extant literature on alliance performance, which has largely focused on firm and dyad levels of analysis. Such approaches have typically neglected what managers actually think about alliances in favor of approximations derived from economic logic. To address this shortfall our study adopts a micro-level of analysis centered on the individual alliance stakeholder as its unit of analysis. We examine alliances from the view point of those participating in them and inductively develop a framework that highlights the complexity and plurality of alliance evaluations in practice. A set of eight exogenous factors influencing managers’ perspectives of alliances is derived from this exercise and the framework is applied to the case of a major partnership. The case surfaces the diversity of views that exist within partner organizations and the multi-faceted nature of managers’ perspectives on alliances. Recommendations for future research are elaborated in light of these observations.