Interpartner Legitimacy in the Alliance Development Process*

abstract We propose a framework to understand interpartner legitimacy in strategic alliances. Interpartner legitimacy is the mutual acknowledgment by the alliance partners that their actions are proper in the developmental processes of the alliance. We argue that interpartner legitimacy is needed for cooperation to achieve alliance objectives. We propose three types of interpartner legitimacy – pragmatic, moral, and cognitive legitimacy – and discuss the dynamics of these three types in the formation, operation, and outcome stages of alliance development. Further, we discuss the salience of interpartner legitimacy in different alliance types. Finally, we derive propositions for further research, and discuss strategies that alliance managers can adopt to develop interpartner legitimacy.     

基于生命周期的产业联盟创新绩效影响因素研究

运用生命周期理论结合产业联盟创新绩效相关研究,将产业联盟的生命周期按其动态演化进程划分为“准备-构建-成长-成熟-衰退”五个阶段。论文分别从联盟生命周期五阶段探讨了联盟特征,并深入分析了不同生命周期创新绩效的影响因素,以期为产业联盟创新绩效的评价及提升提供理论依据与实践参考。     

Alliance Capability as a Mediator Between Experience and Alliance Performance: An Empirical Investigation into the Alliance Capability Development Process*

abstract This study centres around the way in which firms can enhance alliance performance through the development of alliance capabilities. Whereas most research has focused on inter-firm antecedents of alliance performance, research on intra-firm antecedents pointing to prior experience and internal mechanisms to foster knowledge transfer has only recently emerged. As little is known about how firms develop alliance capabilities, this study aims to uncover how differences in sources of alliance capabilities explain performance heterogeneity. The data are derived from a detailed survey held among alliance managers and Vice-Presidents of 151 firms. The survey covers over 2600 alliances for the period 1997–2001. This study not only finds that alliance capabilities partially mediate between alliance experience and alliance performance, but also yields novel insights into the micro-level building blocks underlying the process of alliance capability development.     

国内企业建立供应链联盟研究

供应链联盟是一种新型的企业组织形式。主要以汽车制造业为例,对供应链联盟在西方国家产生的背景和成功经验进行了阐述,在此基础上分析了供应链联盟取得成功的关键因素,指出国内企业应该怎样建设供应链联盟。     

Do Firms Learn from Alliance Terminations? An Empirical Examination

In this paper, drawing from the learning from failure perspective, we argue that firms that have experienced prior terminations are less likely to have their future alliance terminated. Our key argument is that prior terminations will enable firms to design better alliances and adopt more appropriate alliance management strategies to avoid future terminations. We also suggest a more nuanced view of learning by hypothesizing that termination experience will mediate the relationship between alliance formation experience and likelihood of termination. We used the case–control methodology to select a sample of 198 alliances (consisting of 99 terminations and an equal number of surviving alliances) from the global biotechnology industry, and deployed logistic regression analysis to test the hypotheses in a multivariate setting. Our analysis strongly supports both hypotheses.     

Alliance Management: A View from the Past and a Look to the Future

The literature on strategic alliances has focused mainly on issues related to alliance formation and the reasons why firms form these partnerships. Yet the large number of failures would suggest that there exists a gap between an understanding of alliance formation and the practice of alliance management. The purpose of this paper is to narrow that gap. We begin with a review of the extant state-of-knowledge and then discuss areas in which further insight can be gained. More specifically, the remainder of the paper focuses on issues related to managing alliances over time and the role of the alliance manager, a linch-pin in the alliance management process.     

Knowledge Spillovers and Alliance Formation

Our study examines the conditions under which firms enter into strategic alliances subsequent to knowledge spillovers. We propose that spillovers serve as signals of knowledge dependence and potential complementarity, encouraging alliance formation to enable better learning and limit appropriation. We posit that the likelihood of a knowledge alliance subsequent to a spillover is contingent on the specialization of each of the firms in the knowledge involved in the spillover. We also hypothesize that the effects of such specialization on knowledge alliance formation are moderated by technological ties and geographic distance between the dyad involved in the spillover. Our results demonstrate significance for the effects of specialization, supporting learning and appropriation motivations. Technological ties strengthen while geographic distance weakens the relationship between specialization and alliance formation.     

校企合作战略联盟反馈控制机制研究

校企合作是经济发展和技术创新的必然要求。本文在对校企合作战略联盟内涵界定的基础上,构建了校企合作战略联盟反馈控制模式,高校和企业之间建立起密切的战略伙伴关系,通过实现资源共享,实现利益均沾"、互惠双赢"的目的。校企合作战略联盟系统是复杂反馈系统,通过反馈机制,不断调整系统,促进合作的顺利实施。校企合作战略联盟反馈控制机制需要强化控制意识、控制机制实施和构建信息系统三方面开展。     

Innovation in start-ups: Ideas filling the void or ideas devoid of resources and capabilities?

We investigate how access to different types of resources affects the success of entrepreneurial start-up firms at early stages of development in small isolated economies by studying 12 start-ups based in New Zealand. We find that successful commercialization of innovations depends on the availability of complementary assets, and that capability-based resources, especially dynamic capabilities, have a greater impact on competitive advantage of start-ups than other intangible and tangible assets. For the start-ups in our study, alliances with partners are particularly important, and so the ability to form alliances is a key capability. Successful start-ups leverage their available resources to attract alliance partners in order to access necessary complementary resources. The start-ups in our study clearly demonstrated the ability to attract partners locally but struggled to do so internationally, thereby limiting their growth potential.     

Cooperation Costs,Governance Choice and Alliance Evolution*

abstract While researchers in alliance management have identified the duality of cooperation and control within alliances, comparative governance scholars have not yet developed a coherent framework for relating the costs of cooperation to governance choices. This paper proposes a theory of cooperation costs highlighting the importance of joint task complexity, interpartner diversity, equity and strategic implications on the perception of alliance value and the formation and evolution of hybrid governance structures. A tolerance frontier is used to predict conditions for alliance failure both ex ante and after formation, as well as conditions under which an alliance will evolve once formed. The framework is illustrated through an analysis of the initial structuring and subsequent changes in the NedCar alliance between Mitsubishi Motors and Volvo, and implications for further research are discussed.     

品牌联盟组织间协作的构成及路径的案例研究

基于复杂适应系统理论,采用案例研究方法,探究品牌联盟组织间协作的构成维度及路径.协作目标、协作契约、组织结构和组织间相互作用为品牌联盟组织间协作的4个关键构成维度.其中,协作目标体现了品牌联盟的需求;协作契约以及组织结构组成协作具体内容;组织间相互作用形成协作方式;协作内容及协作方式共同决定着协作模式的形成.品牌联盟组...     

基于战略意图的战略联盟绩效评价指标体系研究

目前理论界对于企业战略联盟绩效评价的研究,大多数都是使用单纯的财务绩效指标对联盟的绩效进行评价。本文提出,联盟的绩效评价首先应当从组成联盟的企业的各自角度出发。其次由于不同的战略联盟的战略意图相差迥异,应当从战略联盟建立的战略意图出发,来设计评价战略联盟绩效的指标体系。首先对战略联盟各种战略意图作了一个系统的分析,然后提出一套基于战略意图的联盟绩效的评价指标体系,并给出了一种定量评价方法。     

RISK TYPES AND INTER-FIRM ALLIANCE STRUCTURES*

This paper examines the choice between equity and non-equity forms of inter-firm alliances from an ‘integrated risk’ perspective, which combines relational risk and performance risk in inter-firm alliances. Relational risk relates to co-operation among alliance partners, while performance risk has to do with the hazards of not achieving the performance objectives of an alliance, given co-operation. We suggest that equity alliance is adopted to control relational risk, while non-equity alliance is aimed at minimizing performance risk. Existing studies on the choice of alliance configurations are examined from the proposed risk perspective, and a number of key propositions are advanced for empirical testing and further development of the perspective.     

The Influence of Top Management Team International Exposure on International Alliance Formation

abstract    This study examines the effect of top management team (TMT) international exposure on the formation of international alliances. We develop our arguments based on relational capital theory to suggest that top executives with international exposure are critical to firms' international alliance formation. Supporting this view, we find that TMT international exposure is positively associated with the formation of international alliances. Moreover, we find evidence to suggest that the effect of TMT international exposure on international alliance formation is more positive as the level of environmental uncertainty increases. We discuss implications and directions for future research.     

Disentangling Alliance Management Processes: Decision Making, Politicality, and Alliance Performance

abstract    Using a sample of 106 organizations engaged in strategic alliances, we develop and test a framework of alliance-related organizational decision-making processes and their impact on alliance performance. With regard to direct effects, our results show a negative impact of decision-making recursiveness and no significant relationship for openness and procedural rationality. Acknowledging the importance of the organization's micropolitical context in which these decision processes are embedded, we also test the moderating influence of politicality. Our findings provide support for our hypotheses that in a context of low politicality, the decision-making characteristics of openness and procedural rationality have a positive influence, whereas recursiveness negatively affects alliance performance. In a context of high politicality, however, openness and procedural rationality exert a negative influence, and the negative impact of recursiveness is aggravated. We suggest that alliance-related decision making cannot be adequately understood without explicitly considering the micropolitical context in organizations.     

Corporate Entrepreneurship Activities through Strategic Alliances: A Resource‐Based Approach toward Competitive Advantage*

abstract Corporate entrepreneurship (CE) activities may significantly benefit from interfirm strategic alliances, although such benefits have not been sufficiently examined in the literature. In this paper, a resource‐based framework is presented to examine how strategic alliances offer entrepreneurial firms needed resources that may not otherwise be available. We argue that CE activities are likely to lead to resource gaps. We compare various options to fill resource gaps, and identify the pros and cons of the alliance approach. We then discuss the resource conditions that provide competitive advantage for a firm, if alliances are properly used to help implement CE. Finally, we examine how different types of alliance (e.g. joint ventures, R&D alliances, and learning alliances) facilitate various CE activities, including innovation, corporate venturing, and strategic renewal.     

On Some Procedures of Forming a Multipartner Alliance

In the article, we study two different ways of forming multipartner alliances between firms with the central idea that procedure is an important factor in multipartner alliance formation. In the first procedure, an alliance is formed simultaneously, while in the second procedure (step-by-step) members are added one by one. In the model we present, each firm is assumed to have a multidimensional maneuvering space, which consists of all alliance positions acceptable to the firm, and an ideal position in this space. Alliances will form between the firms whose maneuvering spaces overlap. The results of the analysis confirm that procedure is an important factor in multipartner alliance formation. Nevertheless, if ideal positions of firms are acceptable to all alliance partners, then the result of alliance formation does not depend on procedure. In addition, it is shown that it can be disadvantageous to be a first mover. Finally, we are able to provide sufficient conditions under which one procedure is preferred in a three-partner case. More specifically, a firm with its ideal position acceptable to the two other firms may prefer the simultaneous procedure to being a late mover if (1) there is a certain balance in the firms' degree of flexibility and their power and (2) if the agreed alliance position of the two other firms is acceptable to the firm in question.     

Effects of Information Technology Capabilities on Strategic Alliances: Implications for the Resource‐Based View

This paper adopts a contingency approach to the resource‐based view (RBV) of the firm and seeks to establish boundary conditions for the value of certain information technology (IT) capabilities. We first identify inter‐organizational alliances as a specific strategy context in which IT capabilities are particularly valuable. We then consider more detailed boundary conditions that can shape the value of these capabilities within the alliance context. Our study shows that firms with better IT capabilities can derive greater value from an alliance, yet this effect also varies across different types of alliances depending on an individual alliance's characteristics. Specifically, IT capabilities are more valuable for alliances with a non‐equity governance structure, as well as those involving a high degree of interdependence between partners. We highlight the implications of our findings for opportunities to advance the RBV.     

A Dependence-Trust Modelm of Export Alliance Performance in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

Abstract

This paper focuses on the export performance of US environmental technology (EnviroTech) firms, which are predominantly small and medium enterprises (SMEs). We conceptualize and empirically test a model of perceived export performance contingent upon the perceived effectiveness of host country partner (HCP) alliances, dependence, and trust in the HCP. We find that US SME EnviroTech firms contemplating exports need two critical ingredients for success. First, they must forge close, cooperative, long-term strategic alliances with HCPs for mutual benefit. And second, they must pay specific attention to building trust in the HCP in order to achieve greater success with the strategic alliance and exports. Though dependence on a host country partner increases the vulnerability of the exporter and detracts from an effective alliance, trust is the antidote that can neutralize the negative impact of dependence.