Managing international strategic alliance relationships

The objective of this study is to investigate the development of international strategic alliances (ISAs) and to identify the important factors for each phase of an alliance relationship. We have developed a framework about the process development of alliances that is based on an extensive literature study. The framework is used to study and analyze three cases of ISAs. The findings and conclusions are presented in a manner that can help managers to recognize the stages they have to go through and, more important, to be aware of the determinant variables in each stage of an alliance life cycle. This study found that the continuity of an alliance relationship is highly dependent on how partners manage their operational phase. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.