不确定性视角下战略联盟治理结构的选择

随着后危机时代的到来,不确定因素日益增多,如何有效应对各种不确定性成为众多企业关注的焦点。战略联盟就是一种能有效缓冲不确定性的中间组织,而联盟治理结构的选择又是战略联盟研究中的重要问题。本文从不确定性的视角出发,通过分析联盟内外部不确定性和不同治理结构的特点,从不确定性、企业态度和企业行为三个层面展开,提出战略联盟治理结构选择的分析框架。最后以中国平安保险公司银保合作模式的演变进行印证,研究结果具有较强的理论和现实意义。     

Partner analysis and alliance performance

The determinants of strategic alliance performance have not been explored adequately in the literature. Empirical studies abound with numerous kinds of performance measures but, thus far, there is no coherent theoretical basis for the determinants of alliance performance. In this article we present a theoretical framework for understanding alliance performance in terms of its key antecedents. We submit that alliance performance is strongly influenced by particular characteristics of the partner firms as mediated by alliance conditions. We use the term “partner analysis” to denote the integrated approach comprising market analysis and resource analysis of partner firms. Alliance conditions are composed of collective strengths, interpartner conflicts, and interdependencies. We discuss the various linkages between the components of partner analysis, alliance conditions, and alliance performance. Finally, we develop a number of propositions to facilitate empirical testing of our partner analysis framework, and indicate its key implications for future research and managerial practice.     

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.     

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.     

产学研联盟动因和形成机理的博弈分析

根据古诺模型的思想,本文分别从企业自主研发、产学研静态竞合、产学研动态竞合、产学研联盟的角度建立了分析模型,并以此为基础分析了产学研联盟动因和形成机理。本文以单位投入要素收益为主要的判别标准,并考虑联盟的协同效应,指出大中小各型企业都有足够的动因形成产学研联盟,从理论上解释产学研联盟广泛流行的现象。     

物流联盟绩效评价指标体系初探

物流联盟是应对外部市场快速变化而形成的一种虚拟组织,正确评价联盟绩效是保证联盟稳定运行的重要条件。基于物流联盟的科学内涵、组织结构和组建模式,文中构建了物流联盟绩效评价指标体系,并运用模糊综合评判研究了联盟绩效评价问题。     

Horizontal alliances and the merger paradox

Mergers and alliances are two organizational forms which allow firms to combine complementary capabilities to realize strategic goals; they are, in many cases, strategic substitutes. Managerial decision‐makers, therefore, require a framework for choosing between the two strategies. This paper contributes to this decision‐making process by highlighting one advantage of alliances over mergers. Specifically, while the profitability of a cost‐reducing horizontal merger is diminished by the resulting expansion of non‐merging competitor(s), an alliance, where partners collaborate to reduce costs but sell their product independently, enables its partners to realize the benefits of merging but avoid the problem of strengthening competitors. A model is developed which demonstrates the profitability of establishing such an alliance compared to a merger. The implications of this strategy for antitrust review are briefly discussed. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

ECFA架构下的电信业供应链联盟分析

回顾了ECFA中有关电信业的规定,分析了两岸电信业合作的背景,并且从两岸电信企业间供应链联盟和两岸电信业海缆合作两个方面,分析了ECFA框架下两岸电信业联盟的主要领域和主要内容,以及可能存在的一些障碍。     

Foreign ownership,firm performance,and the geography of civic capital

It is well established in the literature that foreign affiliates are subject to a series of governance and assimilation costs that may deteriorate their performance. This is particularly relevant for firms which have been recently acquired by foreign investors. We employ the variation in civic capital across Italian provinces as an exogenous determinant of these governance costs. We claim that the effect of foreign ownership on productivity is less favorable in areas where civic capital is low. As the level of local civic capital increases, the scope for opportunistic behavior is reduced, which makes the governance of foreign affiliates easier and improves their performance. We take this prediction to the data and find confirmation of our conceptual framework. Our analysis uncovers the importance of the geographic heterogeneity of informal norms and institutions in analyzing the nexus between foreign ownership and performance.     

Agency costs,corporate governance mechanisms and ownership structure in large UK publicly quoted companies: A panel data analysis

This paper examines the impact of governance and ownership variables on agency costs for a panel of large UK quoted companies. We use three measures of agency costs: the ratio of sales-to-total assets, the interaction of free cash flows and growth prospects and the number of acquisitions. We employ a range of techniques to analyse the data: fixed-effects, instrumental variables, and Tobit regressions. We find that the changes in board structures that have occurred in the post-Cadbury period have not, generally, affected agency costs. This suggests a range of mechanisms is consistent with firm value maximisation. We also find that having a nomination committee increases agency costs, which indicates that there are costs associated with certain governance mechanisms. Increasing board ownership also helps to reduce agency costs. We also find that debt reduces agency costs. Our results raise questions about the usefulness of the information sent to shareholders when firms adopt a recommended governance framework.     

企业联盟演化的一般模式略论

随着内外环境的变化,企业联盟在合作演化中发展。企业联盟演化模式由初始条件分析、相互学习、对联盟评价、重新调整4个阶段构成,是不断循环的过程。顺利地从一个阶段进入下一个阶段表明联盟取得成功,否则表明联盟失败。     

Alliances and cost declaration

Our model explores the co‐existence of both cooperative and competitive behaviors in an alliance setting. Specifically, when alliance partners cooperatively choose observable contributions given reported costs, their self‐interested behavior may lead to misreporting of costs related to these contributions. We show that truthful cost reporting by an alliance firm is valuable, thereby establishing that accurate cost reports are a determinant of successful alliance performance. Next we show that an alliance firm's cost reporting behavior may depend on the type of payoffs it receives from alliance, i.e., a share of profit or revenue, and also on the type of relationship between contributions, i.e., whether they are technical substitutes or complements. While we have focussed on highlighting factors which underlie cost misreporting, this study also may serve as a basis for investigating ways to design contracts to diminish the loss an alliance suffers from cost misreporting of the firms, thus increasing the chance that an alliance will be successful. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Efficiency and regulation: A basis for reform: 2nd annual MDE lecture,Pace University,Graduate School of Business,New York City,USA

This paper reviews the nature and consequences of regulation and attempts to provide a framework for reform. The paper argues that regulation, in addition to direct effects on the efficiency of the firm, causes changes in management orientation. These effects are analyzed for monopoly regulation and the implications for the A-J effect examined. They may be more important than A-J effects and may explain why A-J effects are not always significant. Finally, the paper discusses some proposals for reform, focusing on ways in which the transactions costs of regulation can be reduced while preserving it as a governance structure.     

Cultural Cooperation,Institution Building and Metropolitan Governance in Decentralizing Indonesia

The institutional turn in metropolitan governance has been influenced to a considerable degree by a rational choice approach, which views metropolitan governance as essentially created by local actors to reduce the transaction costs of inter‐jurisdictional public‐service provision. Another influential theoretical route follows a historical approach, which emphasizes the role of the state structure in producing formal institutions to enable governance at the regional level. Both approaches tend to be formalistic, simplistic and deterministic in nature, thus neglecting the dynamic interactions between the actors and their more informal, intangible, yet more basic, legitimate institutions, such as culture. This article examines the dynamic role of culture in metropolitan governance building in the context of decentralizing Indonesia. The analysis focuses on ‘best‐practice’ experiences of metropolitan cooperation in greater Yogyakarta, where three neighbouring local governments known as Kartamantul have collaboratively performed cross‐border infrastructure development to deal with the consequences of extended urbanization. We draw on sociological institutionalism to argue that building this metropolitan cooperation has its roots in the capacity of the actors to use and mobilize culture as a resource for collaborative action.     

Do Birds of a Feather Flock Higher? The Effects of Partner Similarity on Innovation in Strategic Alliances in Knowledge‐Intensive Industries

In spite of the consensus on the benefits of strategic alliances for learning and innovation, our understanding of the effects of partner similarity remains conflicted. This paper develops an integrative theoretical framework in which we propose that similar partners in a focal firm's alliance portfolio contribute to the firm's innovation up to a threshold, beyond which additional similar partners can lead to a decrease in innovation because of the trade-offs embedded in collaboration between similar partners. In this integrative framework, we also draw on organizational ecology and institutional perspectives to propose that the effect of partner similarity on innovation is positively moderated by organizational aging and the industry norm of collaboration at the firm's founding. Results from an analysis of 176 biotechnology firms between 1988 and 1999 support our arguments. This study contributes to research on strategic alliance and innovation by considering both the benefits and costs of partner similarity in the context of alliance portfolios and by exploring the multilevel contingencies for the effects of partner similarity.     

Macroeconomic scenarios for the south Mediterranean countries: Evidence from general equilibrium model simulation results

The “Arab spring” aftermath calls for a closer look at the developments in the south Mediterranean countries. This paper develops and assesses alternative scenarios for the region up to the year 2030 with the employment of GEM-E3, a computable general equilibrium model. The scenarios quantify three alternative visions of the regional future which assume: (i) south Mediterranean-EU cooperation, (ii) south Mediterranean global opening and (iii) escalation of regional conflicts and failure to cooperate. The scenarios are compared to the baseline scenario, which assumes a continuation of the regional policies observed in the recent past. Assumptions on trade integration, infrastructure, population and governance developments are adopted in each scenario. Infrastructure upgrades and governance improvements within an EU cooperation context are found to benefit the region most. The findings have important policy implications indicating alternatives to be implemented.     

一体化物流与供应链管理战略分析

一体化物流与供应链管理是本世纪末全球最有影响的工商业管理趋势之一。阐述了一体化物流和供应链管理的形成与发展。对如何建立大、中型生产企业和流通企业多方位、纵横交错、相互渗透的协作有机体系和供应链联盟等方面作了论述。     

Hybrid governance and governance performance in industrial purchasing relationships

Hybrid governance arrangements (e.g. joint action, long-term contracting and vertical coordination) feature regularly as an effective response to inter-firm dependence in the literature of business-to-business relationships. However, current empirical work has paid little attention to whether such governance arrangements really do improve governance efficacy and reduce transaction costs. The present study focuses on the governance efficacy of vertical coordination in industrial business-to-business relationships. Building on transaction costs arguments, the author examines whether vertical coordination is an effective means for adapting to inter-firm dependence, realized as the substantial employment of specific assets.Empirical findings from a survey of 170 industrial supplier–buyer relationships demonstrate that when asset specificity reaches a certain level, greater vertical coordination reduces ex post transaction costs significantly. On the other hand, this efficacy pattern is modest or non-existent in relationships with low asset specificity.The research findings support the basic TCA assumption that the performance of hybrid governance arrangements is highly dependent on a situation of substantial inter-firm dependence with subsequent small-number conditions.     

JUSTIFYING A POLICY MIX FOR POLLUTION CONTROL: A REVIEW OF ECONOMIC LITERATURE

Abstract This paper provides a review of economic studies analysing the use of multiple policies – a so‐called policy mix – to cope with single pollution problems. To guide and structure the review, an analytical framework is developed and applied. The framework integrates transaction costs into the analysis of pollution problems and policies to overcome them. Moreover, it understands a pollution externality not only as a market failure but more generally as the failure of private governance structures. Based on this insight, two rationales for using a policy mix are identified. First, a policy mix may help to correct for multiple reinforcing failures of private governance structures, such as pollution externalities and technological spillovers. Second, a policy mix can be employed if the implementation of single first‐best policies brings about high transaction costs, e.g. when marginal pollution damages are heterogeneous or polluters are unlikely to comply with the policy. For each rationale, the relevant literature is presented. Based on the review, avenues for future research are identified.     

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.