Business Administration
Abstract
This paper presents a critical review of the strategic alliance literature, with an emphasis on
the psychosocial factors involved in strategic alliances’ performance. I argue that these have been
neglected in favor of macro and meso-level theories, which tend to ignore performance-effects of
micro-level behavioral factors. The schools of thought and methodologies that have shaped the
development of the strategic alliance literature are discussed along with the key success factors that
have been related to strategic alliances’ performance. In conclusion, I put forth a set of
recommendations for future research.
References
Adegbesan, J. & Higgins, M. (2011). The intra-alliance division of value created through
collaboration. Strategic Management Journal, 32(2): 187.
Adobor, H. (2002). Competitive success in an age of alliance capitalism: How do firm-specific factors
affect behavior in strategic alliances? Advances in Competitiveness Research, 10(1): 71-99.
Ariño, A. (2003). Measures of strategic alliance performance: an analysis of construct validity.
Journal of International Business Studies, 34(1): 66-79.
Bamford, J. D., Gomes-Casseres, B., & Robinson, M. S. (2003). Mastering alliance strategy: a
comprehensive guide to design, management and organization (1 ed.): John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Barkema, H. G., Shenkar, O., Vermeulen, F., & Bell, J. H. J. (1997). Working Abroad, Working with
Others: How Firms Learn to Operate International Joint Ventures. The Academy of Management
Journal, 40(2): 426-442.
Bleeke, J. & Ernst, D. (1991). The Way to Win in Cross-Border Alliances. Harvard Business Review,
69(6): 127-135.
Bretherton, P. (2003). The Rationale for Strategic Alliances: An Empirical Study. Journal of Euro -
Marketing, 13(1): 73-93.
Chao, Y.-C. (2011). Decision-making biases in the alliance life cycle. Management Decision, 49(3):
350.
Coase, R. H. (1952). The Nature of the Firm, Readings in Price Theory: 331-351. Home- wood, IL:
Irwin.
de Rond, M. (2003). Strategic Alliances as Social Facts. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Delios, A., Inkpen, A. C., & Ross, J. (2004). Escalation in International Strategic Alliances.
Management International Review, 44(4): 457-479.
Doz, Y. L. (1996). The Evolution of Cooperation in Strategic Alliances: Initial Conditions or
Learning Processes? Strategic Management Journal, 17: 55-83.
Doz, Y. L. & Hamel, G. (1998). Alliance Advantage: The Art of Creating Value through Partnering.
Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Draulans, J., deMan, A.-P., & Volberda, H. W. (2003). Building alliance capability: Management
techniques for superior alliance performance. Long Range Planning, 36(2): 151-166.
Duysters, G. & Lemmens, C. (2003). Alliance Group Formation: Enabling and Constraining Effects
of Embeddedness and Social Capital in Strategic Technology Alliance Networks. International
Studies of Management & Organization, 33(2): 49-68.
Ernst, D. & Bamford, J. (2005). Your Alliances Are Too Stable. Harvard Business Review, 83(6):
133-141.
Frankel, R. & Schmitz Whipple, J. (1999). Testing a model of long-term alliance success. Hospital
Materiel Management Quarterly, 20(4): 55-59.
Geringer, J. M. & Herbert, L. (1991). Measuring Performance Of International Joint Ventures.
Journal of International Business Studies, 22(2): 249-264.
Glaister, K. W. & Buckley, P. J. (1998). Measures of Performance in UK International Alliances.
Organization Studies, 19(1): 89-118.
Gleason, K. C., Mathur, I., & Wiggins III, R. A. (2003). Evidence on Value Creation in the Financial
Services Industries through the Use of Joint Ventures and Strategic Alliances. Financial Review,
38(2): 213-234.
Gulati, R. (1995). Social Structure and Alliance Formation Patterns: A Longitudinal Analysis.
Administrative Science Quarterly, 40(4): 619-652.
Gulati, R. (1998). ALLIANCES AND NETWORKS. Strategic Management Journal (1986-1998),
19(4): 293-317.
Hagedoorn, J. & Schakenraad, J. (1994). The Effect of Strategic Technology Alliances on Company
Performance. Strategic Management Journal, 15(4): 291-309.
Hamel, G., Doz, Y. L., & Prahalad, C. K. (1989). Collaborate with Your Competitors--and Win.
Harvard Business Review, 67(1): 133-139.
Hamel, G. (1991). Competition for Competence and Inter-Partner Learning Within International
Strategic Alliances. Strategic Management Journal, 12: 83-103.
Inkpen, A. C. & Beamish, P. W. (1997). Knowledge, Bargaining Power, and the Instability of
International Joint Ventures. The Academy of Management Review, 22(1): 177-202.
Inkpen, A. C. (1998). Learning and knowledge acquisition through international strategic alliances.
The Academy of Management Executive, 12(4): 69-80.
Inkpen, A. C. & Ross, J. (2001). Why do some strategic alliances persist beyond their useful life?
California Management Review, 44(1): 132-148.
Kale, P., Dyer, J. H., & Singh, H. (2002). Alliance Capability, Stock Market Response, and Long
Term Alliance Success: The Role of the Alliance Function. Strategic Management Journal, 23(8):
747-767.
Karnitschnig, M. (2008). The Perils of a Google-Yahoo Blocking Move, The Wall Street Journal.
New York.
Kogut, B. (1988a). A Study of the Life Cycle of Joint Ventures. Management International Review,
28(Special Issue): 39-52.
Kogut, B. (1988b). Joint Ventures: Theoretical And Empirical Perspectives. Strategic Management
Journal, 9(4): 319-332.
Koh, J. & Venkatraman, N. (1991). Joint Venture Formations and Stock Market Reactions: An
Assessment in the Information Technology Sector. The Academy of Management Journal, 34(4): 869-
892.
Larson, A. (1992). Network Dyads in Entrepreneurial Settings: A Study of the Governance of
Exchange Relationships. Administrative Science Quarterly, 37(1): 76-104.
Leek, S., Turnbull, P. W., & Naudé, P. (2006). Classifying relationships across cultures as successful
and problematic: Theoretical perspectives and managerial implications. Industrial Marketing
Management, 35(7): 892-900.
Lei, D. & Slocum, J. W., Jr (1992). Global Strategy, Competence-Building and Strategic Alliances.
California Management Review, 35(1): 81-97.
Luo, Y. (1996). Evaluating the performance of strategic alliances in China. Long Range Planning,
29(4): 534-542.
Nakamura, M., Shaver, J. M., & Yeung, B. (1996). An empirical investigation of joint venture
dynamics: Evidence from U.S.-Japan joint ventures. International Journal of Industrial Organization,
14(4): 521-541.
Nielsen, B. B. (2007). Determining international strategic alliance performance: A multidimensional
approach. International Business Review, 16(3): 337-361.
Osland, G. E. & Yaprak, A. (1995). Learning through strategic alliances: Processes and factors.
European Journal of Marketing, 29(3): 52-66.
Pangarkar, N. (2003). Determinants of Alliance Duration in Uncertain Environments: The Case of the
Biotechnology Sector. Long Range Planning, 36(3): 269-284.
Pansiri, J. (2005). The influence of managers' characteristics and perceptions in strategic alliance
practice. Management Decision, 43(9): 1097-1113.
Park, S. H. & Ungson, G. R. (2001). Interfirm Rivalry and Managerial Complexity: A Conceptual
Framework of Alliance Failure. Organization Science, 12(1): 37-53.
Parkhe, A. (1993).”MESSY" Research, Methodological Predispositions, And Theory Development In
International Joint Ventures. The Academy of Management Review, 18(2): 227-268.
Perkmann, M., Neely, A., & Walsh, K. (2011). How should firms evaluate success in universityindustry
alliances? A performance measurement system. R & D Management, 41(2): 202.
Ricadela, A. (2007). Oracle vs. SAP: Sound or Fury?, BusinessWeek.
Ring, P. S. & Van De Ven, A. H. (1994). Developmental Processes of Cooperative
Interorganizational Relationships. Academy of Management Review, 19(1): 90-118.
Schilke, O. & Goerzen, A. (2010). Alliance Management Capability: An Investigation of the
Construct and Its Measurement. Journal of Management, 36(5): 1192-1219.
Tehrani, M. (2003). Competitive strategies, strategic alliances, and performance in international hightech
industries: A cross-cultural study. Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge, 2(2):
610-617.
Tyler, B. B. & Steensma, H. K. (1998). The Effects of Executives' Experiences and Perceptions on
their Assessment of Potential Technological Alliances. Strategic Management Journal (1986-1998),
19(10): 939-965.
Williamson, O. E. (1991). Comparative Economic Organization: The Analysis of Discrete Structural
Alternatives. Administrative Science Quarterly, 36(2): 269-296.
Zollo, M., Reuer, J. J., & Singh, H. (2002). Interorganizational Routines and Performance in Strategic
Alliances. Organization Science, 13(6): 701-713.
collaboration. Strategic Management Journal, 32(2): 187.
Adobor, H. (2002). Competitive success in an age of alliance capitalism: How do firm-specific factors
affect behavior in strategic alliances? Advances in Competitiveness Research, 10(1): 71-99.
Ariño, A. (2003). Measures of strategic alliance performance: an analysis of construct validity.
Journal of International Business Studies, 34(1): 66-79.
Bamford, J. D., Gomes-Casseres, B., & Robinson, M. S. (2003). Mastering alliance strategy: a
comprehensive guide to design, management and organization (1 ed.): John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Barkema, H. G., Shenkar, O., Vermeulen, F., & Bell, J. H. J. (1997). Working Abroad, Working with
Others: How Firms Learn to Operate International Joint Ventures. The Academy of Management
Journal, 40(2): 426-442.
Bleeke, J. & Ernst, D. (1991). The Way to Win in Cross-Border Alliances. Harvard Business Review,
69(6): 127-135.
Bretherton, P. (2003). The Rationale for Strategic Alliances: An Empirical Study. Journal of Euro -
Marketing, 13(1): 73-93.
Chao, Y.-C. (2011). Decision-making biases in the alliance life cycle. Management Decision, 49(3):
350.
Coase, R. H. (1952). The Nature of the Firm, Readings in Price Theory: 331-351. Home- wood, IL:
Irwin.
de Rond, M. (2003). Strategic Alliances as Social Facts. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Delios, A., Inkpen, A. C., & Ross, J. (2004). Escalation in International Strategic Alliances.
Management International Review, 44(4): 457-479.
Doz, Y. L. (1996). The Evolution of Cooperation in Strategic Alliances: Initial Conditions or
Learning Processes? Strategic Management Journal, 17: 55-83.
Doz, Y. L. & Hamel, G. (1998). Alliance Advantage: The Art of Creating Value through Partnering.
Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Draulans, J., deMan, A.-P., & Volberda, H. W. (2003). Building alliance capability: Management
techniques for superior alliance performance. Long Range Planning, 36(2): 151-166.
Duysters, G. & Lemmens, C. (2003). Alliance Group Formation: Enabling and Constraining Effects
of Embeddedness and Social Capital in Strategic Technology Alliance Networks. International
Studies of Management & Organization, 33(2): 49-68.
Ernst, D. & Bamford, J. (2005). Your Alliances Are Too Stable. Harvard Business Review, 83(6):
133-141.
Frankel, R. & Schmitz Whipple, J. (1999). Testing a model of long-term alliance success. Hospital
Materiel Management Quarterly, 20(4): 55-59.
Geringer, J. M. & Herbert, L. (1991). Measuring Performance Of International Joint Ventures.
Journal of International Business Studies, 22(2): 249-264.
Glaister, K. W. & Buckley, P. J. (1998). Measures of Performance in UK International Alliances.
Organization Studies, 19(1): 89-118.
Gleason, K. C., Mathur, I., & Wiggins III, R. A. (2003). Evidence on Value Creation in the Financial
Services Industries through the Use of Joint Ventures and Strategic Alliances. Financial Review,
38(2): 213-234.
Gulati, R. (1995). Social Structure and Alliance Formation Patterns: A Longitudinal Analysis.
Administrative Science Quarterly, 40(4): 619-652.
Gulati, R. (1998). ALLIANCES AND NETWORKS. Strategic Management Journal (1986-1998),
19(4): 293-317.
Hagedoorn, J. & Schakenraad, J. (1994). The Effect of Strategic Technology Alliances on Company
Performance. Strategic Management Journal, 15(4): 291-309.
Hamel, G., Doz, Y. L., & Prahalad, C. K. (1989). Collaborate with Your Competitors--and Win.
Harvard Business Review, 67(1): 133-139.
Hamel, G. (1991). Competition for Competence and Inter-Partner Learning Within International
Strategic Alliances. Strategic Management Journal, 12: 83-103.
Inkpen, A. C. & Beamish, P. W. (1997). Knowledge, Bargaining Power, and the Instability of
International Joint Ventures. The Academy of Management Review, 22(1): 177-202.
Inkpen, A. C. (1998). Learning and knowledge acquisition through international strategic alliances.
The Academy of Management Executive, 12(4): 69-80.
Inkpen, A. C. & Ross, J. (2001). Why do some strategic alliances persist beyond their useful life?
California Management Review, 44(1): 132-148.
Kale, P., Dyer, J. H., & Singh, H. (2002). Alliance Capability, Stock Market Response, and Long
Term Alliance Success: The Role of the Alliance Function. Strategic Management Journal, 23(8):
747-767.
Karnitschnig, M. (2008). The Perils of a Google-Yahoo Blocking Move, The Wall Street Journal.
New York.
Kogut, B. (1988a). A Study of the Life Cycle of Joint Ventures. Management International Review,
28(Special Issue): 39-52.
Kogut, B. (1988b). Joint Ventures: Theoretical And Empirical Perspectives. Strategic Management
Journal, 9(4): 319-332.
Koh, J. & Venkatraman, N. (1991). Joint Venture Formations and Stock Market Reactions: An
Assessment in the Information Technology Sector. The Academy of Management Journal, 34(4): 869-
892.
Larson, A. (1992). Network Dyads in Entrepreneurial Settings: A Study of the Governance of
Exchange Relationships. Administrative Science Quarterly, 37(1): 76-104.
Leek, S., Turnbull, P. W., & Naudé, P. (2006). Classifying relationships across cultures as successful
and problematic: Theoretical perspectives and managerial implications. Industrial Marketing
Management, 35(7): 892-900.
Lei, D. & Slocum, J. W., Jr (1992). Global Strategy, Competence-Building and Strategic Alliances.
California Management Review, 35(1): 81-97.
Luo, Y. (1996). Evaluating the performance of strategic alliances in China. Long Range Planning,
29(4): 534-542.
Nakamura, M., Shaver, J. M., & Yeung, B. (1996). An empirical investigation of joint venture
dynamics: Evidence from U.S.-Japan joint ventures. International Journal of Industrial Organization,
14(4): 521-541.
Nielsen, B. B. (2007). Determining international strategic alliance performance: A multidimensional
approach. International Business Review, 16(3): 337-361.
Osland, G. E. & Yaprak, A. (1995). Learning through strategic alliances: Processes and factors.
European Journal of Marketing, 29(3): 52-66.
Pangarkar, N. (2003). Determinants of Alliance Duration in Uncertain Environments: The Case of the
Biotechnology Sector. Long Range Planning, 36(3): 269-284.
Pansiri, J. (2005). The influence of managers' characteristics and perceptions in strategic alliance
practice. Management Decision, 43(9): 1097-1113.
Park, S. H. & Ungson, G. R. (2001). Interfirm Rivalry and Managerial Complexity: A Conceptual
Framework of Alliance Failure. Organization Science, 12(1): 37-53.
Parkhe, A. (1993).”MESSY" Research, Methodological Predispositions, And Theory Development In
International Joint Ventures. The Academy of Management Review, 18(2): 227-268.
Perkmann, M., Neely, A., & Walsh, K. (2011). How should firms evaluate success in universityindustry
alliances? A performance measurement system. R & D Management, 41(2): 202.
Ricadela, A. (2007). Oracle vs. SAP: Sound or Fury?, BusinessWeek.
Ring, P. S. & Van De Ven, A. H. (1994). Developmental Processes of Cooperative
Interorganizational Relationships. Academy of Management Review, 19(1): 90-118.
Schilke, O. & Goerzen, A. (2010). Alliance Management Capability: An Investigation of the
Construct and Its Measurement. Journal of Management, 36(5): 1192-1219.
Tehrani, M. (2003). Competitive strategies, strategic alliances, and performance in international hightech
industries: A cross-cultural study. Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge, 2(2):
610-617.
Tyler, B. B. & Steensma, H. K. (1998). The Effects of Executives' Experiences and Perceptions on
their Assessment of Potential Technological Alliances. Strategic Management Journal (1986-1998),
19(10): 939-965.
Williamson, O. E. (1991). Comparative Economic Organization: The Analysis of Discrete Structural
Alternatives. Administrative Science Quarterly, 36(2): 269-296.
Zollo, M., Reuer, J. J., & Singh, H. (2002). Interorganizational Routines and Performance in Strategic
Alliances. Organization Science, 13(6): 701-713.
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Published
2021-05-26
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Collective Authors. (2021). Business Administration: Array. Acta Universitatis Danubius. Œconomica, 7(3). Retrieved from https://dj.univ-danubius.ro/index.php/AUDOE/article/view/1051
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