Joint ventures vs. Non-joint ventures: An empirical investigation

This paper describes a longitudinal empirical study comparing joint ventures and non-joint ventures in the petroleum industry as they compete for oil and gas leases. Results indicate that, while enjoying a significant advantage in market power, joint ventures do not perform any better than non-joint ventures at identifying potentially productive leases. Because of the higher payments made for these leases, the overall performance of joint ventures is significantly lower than that of non-joint ventures.     

Antecedents and performance consequences of learning success in international joint ventures

This study examined a sample of organizations involved in international joint ventures, (IJVs) in Malaysia. Drawing upon the resource based view of the firm this paper investigates the antecedents and performance consequences of learning success of foreign partners in IJVs. Data was analysed using two-stage least squares regression (2SLS). Results suggest that a learning orientation, IJV partner mutual dependency and management control, have a positive effect upon the learning success. Results also suggest that organizations with higher levels of learning orientation and learning success have higher levels of business performance. The findings imply that foreign partners in IJVs that are successful in achieving their learning goals, and improving their knowledge, will be winners in terms of improving their business performance.     

Absorptive capacity,learning, and performance in international joint ventures

This paper proposes and tests a model of IJV learning and performance that segments absorptive capacity into the three components originally proposed by Cohen and Levinthal (1990). First, trust between an IJV's parents and the IJV's relative absorptive capacity with its foreign parent are suggested to influence its ability to understand new knowledge held by foreign parents. Second, an IJV's learning structures and processes are proposed to influence its ability to assimilate new knowledge from those parents. Third, the IJV's strategy and training competence are suggested to shape its ability to apply the assimilated knowledge. Revisiting the Hungarian IJVs studied by Lyles and Salk (1996) 3 years later, we find support for the knowledge understanding and application predictions, and partial support for the knowledge assimilation prediction. Unexpectedly, our results suggest that trust and management support from foreign parents are associated with IJV performance but not learning. Our model and results offer a new perspective on IJV learning and performance as well as initial insights into how those relationships change over time. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Strategizing as networking for new ventures

Strategizing as networking has become a powerful theme particularly in the IMP tradition. This paper focuses on new ventures and how these develop through the relationships formed by them. Strategizing through network development concerns how the firm perceives its network of interconnected relationships and how it interacts with other actors in relation to these perceptions. The aim of the paper is to identify patterns in the network development of new ventures and in how their strategizing relates to this development. The paper is based on a longitudinal case study of three new ventures. The case study captures the firms' ‘stories’ of how the networks of relationships have developed since their start. Based on the case illustrations we identify three patterns of how the new ventures strategize in their networking and how they network in their strategizing. These patterns concern: (1) exploration and exploitation of similarities, (2) knowledge sharing among customers, and (3) developing relationships with mediating partners. All three rely on interaction with counterparts that provide access to external resources which is of particular importance for new ventures.     

Structural homophily or social asymmetry? The formation of alliances by poorly embedded firms

Recent research shows that preexisting network structure constrains the formation of new interorganizational alliances. Firms that are poorly embedded in a network structure are less likely than richly embedded firms to form alliances, because they lack informational and reputational benefits. This study examines the types of ties that poorly embedded firms can form to overcome the constraints that their structural positions impose, in turn helping to explain how firms' actions can transform existing network structures. We argue that poorly embedded firms are more likely to participate in ties characterized by social asymmetry than in ties characterized by structural homophily. We analyze the terms of trade that socially asymmetric partners negotiate for alliance governance and discuss how such alliances influence network dynamics. To test our arguments, we use longitudinal data on the alliance activities of 97 global chemical firms from 1979 to 1991. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The contingent value of marketing strategy innovativeness for product development performance in Chinese new technology ventures

This study extends research on entrepreneurial behavior by investigating the relationship between the marketing strategy innovativeness (MSI) and new product performance in technology-based new ventures in China. Specifically, premised on contingent resource-based view we argue that MSI is a firm capability that must be bundled with external managerial relationships and be deployed in the appropriate environment to ensure its success. We found that the team's extra industry relationships and market dynamism enhanced the impact of MSI on new product performance. In contrast, top management team's intraindustry relationships, financial relationships, and technology dynamism hindered the impact of MSI on new product performance.     

The individual vs. the group? Individualization and collectivity among students in collaborative design

The various modes in which individuals relate to the collectivity of a group have been fruitfully explored in research on group dynamics. The present paper applies a phenomenological interview approach to understand how this dynamic relationship plays out among design students in a collaborative design situation. Through deep-interviews with the members of a temporary design group, a number of dimensions for this relationship were uncovered. These individual-group characteristics related to instrumentality of engagement, experience of ambivalence and threat and finally to the process of individualization in which the group enabled an individual “design self”. After having presented the theoretical underpinnings and the empirical results of this study, the paper ends with suggesting a synthesis perspective of the individual-group relation in collaborative design.     

Organizing for solutions: Systems seller vs. systems integrator

This paper aims to examine how firms are organizing to provide integrated solutions: a business model for the supply of capital goods based on the provision of products and services as integrated solutions to individual customer's needs. The industrial marketing literature suggests that the origins of this business model can be traced back to early 1960s when firms adopted strategies and organizations for ‘systems selling’. The marketing literature helps us to identify two contrasting types of organizations: (1) the vertically-integrated systems seller that produces all the product and service components in a system; and (2) the systems integrator that coordinates integration of components supplied by external firms. The paper uses these two ideal types to analyse the strategies and organizations of five case study firms that have recently attempted to move into the provision of integrated solutions. It argues that there is no evidence to support the continuing dominance of the systems seller or a simple transition from systems selling to systems integration. A more complex pattern of organizational forms is emerging, combining elements of both systems selling (i.e. vertical integration into services) and systems integration.     

Rethinking Rouse and Daellenbach's rethinking: isolating vs. testing for sources of sustainable competitive advantage

In a recent paper, Rouse and Daellenbach (1999) provide a five‐step methodological approach which they feel will cure alleged inadequacies in empirical resource‐based research. We suggest, however, that their methodology can provide only a useful aid for expanding our understanding of potential sustainable competitive advantages but will not allow researchers to effectively verify those hypothesized advantages. Specifically, we argue that Rouse and Daellenbach's methodology is plagued by three major shortcomings: (1) it confuses the important distinction between knowing‐how and knowing‐what; (2) it fails to recognize the importance of observable variables in verifying the sources of sustainable competitive advantage; and (3) it calls for sampling on the dependent variable. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Quality certification vs. product traceability: Consumer preferences for informational attributes of pork in Georgia

Consumer willingness-to-pay for informational attributes of food products is important information for food producers and supply chain participants and policy makers. We examine consumer demand in the pork sector of the Republic of Georgia. Results of conditional and mixed logit estimation, conducted on choice experiment data, reveal that Georgian consumers treat quality certification and product traceability attributes as substitutes. We also find that producers and other supply chain participants should be concerned primarily with maintaining the appearance of pork products. Retailer specific factors such as location and type of outlet can also substitute for product traceability. Store location and product appearance, however, are complementary attributes. In light of the recent turbulence in Georgia these consideration may be of paramount importance as participants in the supply chain seek to rebuild damaged infrastructure.