No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the author.
Abstract
This paper proposes a framework for understanding knowledge-related asymmetries in strategic alliances. Their effect on alliance stability, on the realizations of the goals and purposes of the alliance, and on partners’ individual performance is examined. Information asymmetries are thought to have a negative impact on the stability of the alliance. For their part, knowledge asymmetries seem to have a positive impact while learning asymmetries have a negative impact. A mutually reinforcing link is established between the stability of the alliance, the realization of its purpose, and individual partners’ performance. Even if further research is needed, it appears as though a key to growth in an alliance is the careful management and generation of learning, knowledge and information asymmetries.
... Focusing or giving more attention on partner knowledge which can become complementary of our knowledge and skills is important. In strategic alliances knowledge asymmetries seem to have positive impact but information and learning asymmetries seem to have a negative impact on the stability of alliance (Cimon, 2004). Knowledge asymmetries in alliance between partner in developing countries and partner in developed countries are beneficial to both partners (Beamish, 1987). ...
... Even though it is very difficult and challenging this factor will generate the stability of alliance and become a barrier to the faulty of alliance processes. Knowledge asymmetries have a positive impact but, information and learning asymmetries have a negative impact on the alliance stability (Cimon, 2004). ...
Purpose: this thesis propose some propositions that can be implemented to increase and speed up research and development processes by using strategic alliance in contractual project based.
Design/methodology/approach: This study conducted an inductive approach used the archival study and literature review to develop proposition, to find the research gap and to develop a model in strategic alliance in R&D contractual project for further research.
Findings: some studies showed one of the ways to improve research and development performance is by forming strategic alliances with other companies. This model was trying to collaborate between the phases in strategic alliances activities and the phases in research and development activities applied in contractual project based. This paper divides strategic alliances into three phases: Pre project phase, Project phase and Post project phase, and in research and development divided into three phases: Partner Selections phase, Innovation phase and Commercialization phase. This model arranged both intangible aspects from perspective of knowledge management theory and tangible aspects from perspective of resources based view theory to make it more comprehensive.
Research limitations/implications: this research only applied in PERTAMINA an Indonesian National Energy Company, the next future research should be conducted to increase the validity and reliability of this model in others companies.
... Knowledge asymmetries exist because of differences in knowledge, business processes and resources (Brooksbank et al. 2007). Cimon (2004) further evaluated and categorised asymmetries as (1) information asymmetries; (2) knowledge asymmetries; and (3) learning asymmetries, with all three recognised as having a role to play in the process of organizational knowledge creation (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995; 8 Ancori et al., 2000), and arising from differing resource endowments (e.g. Barney, 1991) and absorptive capacity (Cohen and Levinthal, 1990). ...
... al for relationships development and success as it develops trust (Fukuyama, 1995, Baranson, 1990), which positively affects decisions to maintain the relationship and creates stability through shared understandings and norms. Knowledge asymmetries exist because of differences in knowledge, business processes and resources (Brooksbank et al. 2007). Cimon (2004) further evaluated and categorised asymmetries as (1) information asymmetries; (2) knowledge asymmetries; and (3) learning asymmetries, with all three recognised as having a role to play in the process of organizational knowledge creation (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995; Ancori et al., 2000), and arising from differing resource endowments (e. ...
The realisation that fast growing SMEs are major contributors to economic prosperity has seen these firms being increasingly attributed with a more central role in the development of wealth, innovation, employment and national competitiveness. Spatial proximity often positively affects knowledge spillovers from firms and research organisations, reinforcing the asymmetric economic geography of prosperity and accomplishment (Cooke et al, 2005). Moreover, the multi-faceted nature of innovation processes highlighted by Leyesdorff (2000) suggests this should involve the examination of wide-ranging relationships (e.g. with other firms, government agencies, universities). Relating this to geographical aspects in particular, has been the identification of regional systems of innovation as extensions of national systems (Cooke and Morgan, 1994, Morgan, 1997, Howells, 2002, Baptista and Swann, 1998). Whilst national systems of innovation focus on the central role that knowledge and innovation play in determining productivity and growth (Lundvall, 1992, Nelson, 1992), regional factors help determine the extent of individual and organisational learning, technology transfer, innovation and business performance that subsequently occurs within individual regions (Oughton et al, 2002, Howells, 2002, Asheim and Gertler, 2005).
... A strategic alliance between firms is a mechanism to share skills and resources to reach some common goals for the involved firms (Cimon, 2004). Mowery et al. (1996) classifies different forms of alliances on a scale from simple unilateral contracts, through more complex contractual alliances, such as technology sharing and joint development agreements, collaborative R&D, to equity joint ventures where the partner firms share ownership in a separately incorporated entity. ...
Strategic alliances between competitors (coopetition) is perceived to be full of tensions that needs to be managed. This study explore the evolution of a Norwegian coopetition alliance, through how firms handle tensions over time. The study finds that the firms experience a mutual dependence towards one another and that this dependence evolves over time. In the early phases of a coopetition alliance firms handle tension by relying on a structural dependence with their partners whereas firms move towards a more harmonious relationship with their partners by building a psychological dependence through trust and generosity. Further, the results indicate these dependencies might reduce the possible tensions related to asymmetries in size and knowledge between firms.
... Following this line of thinking, (Melin and Axelsson 2004) describes symmetry as two parties equal in terms of power, information access, initiatives, commitment etc. A review of recent literature shows asymmetry has been used to label tangible, and intangible facets of inter-organisational relationships, particularly those in alliances (Cimon 2004). Five commonly mentioned tangible asymmetries include: eclectic asymmetries (e.g. ...
The extant literature on interpersonal and inter-organisational trust reveals there are many factors that can influence an organisations’ services to integrate and exchange. While these studies have enhanced our understanding of organisational collaboration, we propose an asymmetric perspective that concentrates on factors that eventually lead to the loss of inter-organisational trust in the context of the (National Health Services) NHS and local government by seeking to join-up health and care services. This paper explores trust and asymmetry factors that undermine collaborative spirits towards successful service integration among health and care players. Based on interviews with 42 subjects in the NHS England Better Care Fund (BCF) programme, we present a model that distinguishes between asymmetric factors and affected health and care service integration. Our findings contribute to a scholarly understanding of asymmetry in the public sector and the role of trust in overcoming divisions and facilitating joint-up services among health and care organisations.
... More precisely, it has a distinct impact (for example: coercive or voluntary cooperation) depending on its magnitude. This is consistent with the work of Cimon (2004) in particular, which highlights the cross development between asymmetries and the dynamics of an alliance. Beyond the fact that the magnitude of asymmetry varies over time, our study also allows us to operationalize this concept of asymmetry (Casciaro and Piskorski 2005;Chen and Chen 2002) in a complementary way in terms of: number of members, staff in the animation teams, funding, level of attractiveness, national/international recognition, level of performance, size of projects and level of dependence with regard to public funders. ...
While interclustering corresponds to a specific case of inter-organizational relations, its coopetitive and asymmetric potential has rarely been investigated. Here, we examine the challenges in developing a productive coopetitive inter-cluster relationship in a context of asymmetry, and the trust-generating mechanisms needed to overcome these challenges. The case of the French cluster, Inno'vin, gives us some interesting insights into the issue. With five data collection phases conducted over an eight-year period, we compared the relations between Inno'vin and two other clusters located in the same or a nearby geographical area and positioned in similar fields. Our paper highlights the importance of competition in the context of interclustering and identifies the main challenges of inter-cluster coopetition, while emphasizing the role of asymmetry. Moreover, we extend the existing literature on trust-generating mechanisms in the specific context of asymmetric interclustering.
... It is important that the new partner's knowledge complement the knowledge and skills of the other partner. In open innovation, knowledge asymmetries produce positive effects, while information and learning asymmetries negatively affect the stability of the alliance (Cimon, 2004). Because knowledge asymmetries in alliances between partners in developing and developed countries benefit both partners (Beamish, 1987), open innovation between organisations from developed and developing countries is beneficial when the knowledge of the two organisations is complementary. ...
This paper presents proposals for improving and accelerating research and development processes through open innovation based on contractual project-based alliances between energy companies in developed and developing countries. The present study adopted an inductive approach, employing archival studies and a literature review to develop a model for research and development (R&D) contractual project-based alliances to be investigated in future research. This model was an attempt to collaborate between the phases of alliance strategy activities and the phases of R&D activities applied in contractual project-based activities. The present study distinguished three phases of open innovation: the pre-project phase of partner selection, the project phase of innovation, and the post-project phase of commercialisation. This model incorporated a knowledge management perspective focusing on intangible factors and a resource-based view focusing on tangible factors.
... It is important that the new partner's knowledge complement the knowledge and skills of the other partner. In open innovation, knowledge asymmetries produce positive effects, while information and learning asymmetries negatively affect the stability of the alliance (Cimon, 2004). Because knowledge asymmetries in alliances between partners in developing and developed countries benefit both partners (Beamish, 1987), open innovation between organisations from developed and developing countries is beneficial when the knowledge of the two organisations is complementary. ...
This paper presents proposals for improving and accelerating research and development processes through open innovation based on contractual project-based alliances between energy companies in developed and developing countries. The present study adopted an inductive approach, employing archival studies and a literature review to develop a model for research and development (R%D) contractual project-based alliances to be investigated in future research. This model was an attempt to collaborate between the phases of alliance strategy activities and the phases of R%D activities applied in contractual project-based activities. The present study distinguished three phases of open innovation: the pre-project phase of partner selection, the project phase of innovation, and the post-project phase of commercialisation. This model incorporated a knowledge management perspective focusing on intangible factors and a resource-based view focusing on tangible factors.
... Focusing on partner knowledge that can become complementary to the organisation's knowledge and skills is important. In alliance strategy, knowledge asymmetries appear to have a positive impact, but information and learning asymmetries appear to have a negative impact on the stability of the alliance (Cimon, 2004). Knowledge asymmetries in alliances between partners in developing and developed countries are beneficial to both partners (Beamish, 1994). ...
... ilst Tange/Kastberg (2011: 6) describe knowledge asymmetry as a "potential barrier to successful teaching and learning". In other research, the presences of knowledge asymmetry are shown to positively affect innovation, and they are considered constructive for product development in companies and organizations (Rönkkö/Mäkelä 2008, Risku et al. 2011). Cimon (2004 argues that the management of knowledge asymmetry is perceived to be vital to the effective growth of strategic alliances between organizational partners, while Corbett (2007) discusses how knowledge asymmetry plays a vital role in identifying entrepreneurial opportunities. Elsewhere, Pilnick (1998) describes how interactively achieved ...
This article forges a connection between knowledge asymmetry and intercultural communication to challenge extant understandings of knowledge asymmetry as a static and stable condition that infl uences the processes and outcomes of interactive encounters that promote learning. The article draws its empirical material from ethnographic fieldwork at a training course on climate change that involved the participation of development practitioners, policy makers and civil servants working in broad professional arenas such as engineering, agriculture, water management and urban development in Sri Lanka, Kenya, Egypt, Bangladesh, Uganda, Tanzania, Vietnam and Denmark. The material is represented in the form of ethnographic vignettes to demonstrate knowledge asymmetry ‘in action’: how knowledge asymmetry is far from a static and stable condition, but rather how it emerges and disappears as participants summon, articulate, dismiss, ridicule, ignore or explore the rich pools of their culture/knowledge differences during the training course interaction. The article aligns itself to Barth’s (2002) conceptualization of culture as knowledge and to contemporary understandings of intercultural communication that privilege sensitivities to the webs of geo-historical relations and macro power and economic asymmetries that structure and inform intercultural relationships. The article also emphasizes the relevance of seeing knowledge asymmetry as a concept-metaphor (Moore 2004).
... The subtle (and even discouraging) results on revolutionary innovation when not considering inlearning or uncertainty relate to previous studies that evaluate coopetition as an inadequate strategy for innovation, particularly when they are of the highly novel variety (Anderson, Dodd, & Jack, 2012;Nieto & Santamaria, 2007). With highly novel innovations, SMEs should avoid knowledge, information or learning asymmetries between business partners (Cimon, 2004). Opposite effects of prior studies are at least partially attributable to the neglect of differentiating radical and revolutionary innovations and environmental factors: SMEs, uncertainty, and inlearning. ...
... The subtle (and even discouraging) results on revolutionary innovation when not considering inlearning or uncertainty relate to previous studies that evaluate coopetition as an inadequate strategy for innovation, particularly when they are of the highly novel variety (Anderson, Dodd, & Jack, 2012;Nieto & Santamaria, 2007). With highly novel innovations, SMEs should avoid knowledge, information or learning asymmetries between business partners (Cimon, 2004). Opposite effects of prior studies are at least partially attributable to the neglect of differentiating radical and revolutionary innovations and environmental factors: SMEs, uncertainty, and inlearning. ...
... Su definición de las dimensiones de la diversidad entre empresas ha sido aplicada en la investigación española, entre otras, a través del análisis de casos (Escribá Esteve, 2002). Sin embargo, y a pesar de la relevancia que parece tener esa diversidad, la literatura sobre asimetrías en el campo de la cooperación sigue siendo escasa (Cimon, 2004). ...
La innovación actual implica enfrentarse a avan-ces científicos muy rápidos y de orígenes muy diver-sos y a incrementos de la competitividad a través de la adopción de ideas y conocimiento externos y una gestión más eficiente del conocimiento interno (González-Sánchez y García-Muiña, 2011). Esto ha dado lugar a la búsqueda de colaboración con multi-tud de agentes organizacionales e individuales para acceder a talento y nuevas ideas que permitan man-tener o mejorar la capacidad de innovar en el tiem-po. Además de generar rentas con esos esfuerzos conjuntos, ya sea mediante la comercialización directa de esos esfuerzos o suministrando a esos otros agentes parte de las ideas y conocimiento que no somos capaces de hacer llegar al mercado. Actualmente, muchas empresas gestionan sus procesos de innovación estable-ciendo relaciones abiertas de colaboración múltiples y simultáneas con instituciones, organizaciones y personas. La innovación abierta permite interacciones repetidas con las que desarrollar acciones compartidas de innovación debido a una necesidad de acceder a ideas nuevas y a capacidades y talentos diferentes para poder ser competitivos de manera permanente. Sin embargo, para que la colaboración sea efectiva son necesarios ciertos ajustes o simetrías entre los socios, por ejemplo en objetivos, estrategias o practicas de gestión. Este trabajo pretende establecer las bases para, dado un marco de referencia ge-neral sobre los efectos de las asimetrías en la efectividad de las configuraciones de innovación abierta, explorar, más concretamente, cómo es ese efecto en el caso de las asimetrías culturales, organizativas e informativas. Es posible identificar que estas asimetrías tienen un efecto indirecto a través del conflicto que generan. Este conflic-to, de carácter multidimensional, puede afectar tanto positiva como negativamente al resultado final de los proyectos de innovación abierta. En definitiva, se pretende ayu-dar a entender mejor estos efectos para poder configurar mejores enfoques de ges-tión de ese conflicto y así coordinar de un modo efectivo la innovación abierta.
... Additionally, once valuable information is disclosed it cannot be taken back and may be distributed without one's knowledge. Not knowing the value of information to the partner may also create tension (Cimon 2004). These tensions may be of specific importance with strategic alliances involving simultaneous competition and collaboration between organisations (Spekman 1998). ...
... However, the other mechanisms for protection of knowledge cited in Table 4 show that trust cannot be blind and other protection mechanisms are more important than trust. Carayannis & Alexander 1999, Mohr & Sengupta 2002, Cimon 2004, Bayer & Maier 2006, Hau & Evangelista 2007, Ritala et al. 2009, Steinicke et al. 2012 Intellectual property rights, contracts and agreements Carayannis et al. 2000 When the risks listed in Table 3 and the protection mechanisms listed in Table 4 are compared, a similarity of approaches becomes evident. The protection mechanisms respond to some of the risks; however, some risks listed in Table 3 are, in fact, risks to the knowledge sharing, not risks caused by knowledge sharing. ...
The purpose of this paper is to examine the benefits and risks of knowledge sharing in co-opetitive networks. Whilst some studies address the risks of co-opetition, this work examines how the risk or protection perspective is linked specifically to knowledge sharing in co-opetition. Knowledge is a valuable asset for companies, and sharing knowledge with competitors may provide major benefits yet also create major risks. The approach taken is to examine previous research from the angle of co-opetitive knowledge networks and knowledge sharing. Through the methodology of a literature review, the piece offers solid evidence that knowledge sharing and co-opetition in knowledge networks is an area that has not been widely studied. It thus shows that there is room for further studies in this field, which should address how a good balance between sharing and protection of knowledge within co-opetition can be found.
... This approach could be said to follow the zero-sum logic, in other words, it is a business activity in which one party wins at the expense of another. Lately, an increasing body of research has started to focus on the dualistic or simultaneous existence of both of these two logics in interfirm alliances (e.g., Das and Teng, 2000;Tiessen and Linton, 2000;Cimon, 2004;Luo, 2004;Clarke-Hill et al., 2003;Oliver, 2004;Miles et al., 2005). ...
Alliances between competitors (i.e., coopetition) are traditionally considered risky because there is a threat that the firm's intellectual property (especially proprietary knowledge) is acquired by a competitor and used for competitive purposes. However, there is evidence that coopetition also offers significant value creation opportunities. These distinctive risks and benefits arise from the fact that the collaborating firms are rivals in the end-product and strategic resource markets. This study contributes to the current literature by conceptually analysing the impact of market rivalry on the basis of value creation in interfirm alliances. The results imply that coopetition is not risky or beneficial by definition. In particular, the way that the competing firms design and manage the alliance with respect to market rivalry and their common and specialised knowledge actually determine how the benefits and risks in such a relationship are structured.
... Knowledge asymmetries exist because of differences in knowledge, business processes and resources (Brooksbank et al. 2007). Cimon (2004) further evaluated and categorised asymmetries as (1) information asymmetries; (2) knowledge asymmetries; and (3) learning asymmetries, with all three recognised as having a role to play in the process of organizational knowledge creation (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995; Ancori et al., 2000), and arising from differing resource endowments (e.g. Barney, 1991) and absorptive capacity (Cohen and Levinthal, 1990). ...
... Firms enter into strategic alliances for many reasons some of which are relevant to knowledge transfer and inter-organizational learning. Common reasons quoted in the literature are (Powell, Koput and Smith-Doerr 1996;Fischer, Brown, Porac, Wade, DeVaughn and Kanfer 2000;Lane and Lubatkin 1998;Cimon 2004): ...
These five papers present research on much neglected issues of organizational ignorance, incompetence and failure within Knowledge Management and Knowledge Transfer contexts
... Knowledge asymmetries 79/101 exist because of differences in knowledge, business processes and resources (Brooksbank et al. 2007). Cimon (2004) further evaluated and categorised asymmetries as (1) information asymmetries; (2) knowledge asymmetries; and (3) learning asymmetries, with all three recognised as having a role to play in the process of organizational knowledge creation (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995;Ancori et al., 2000), and arising from differing resource endowments (e.g. Barney, 1991) and absorptive capacity (Cohen and Levinthal, 1990). ...
Current research suggests that the process of knowledge creation is both networked
and iterative. Synthesising the literature highlights a range of factors for analysis in
knowledge-based industries. These factors are then used to examine the
biotechnology sector in Queensland Australia, utilising available secondary literature,
interviews with a range of broad stakeholders and 3 case–study companies. The
results highlight issues regarding government policies for biotechnology, due to
potential weaknesses in the network of relationships and governance between the key
stakeholders (particularly within universities), the absence in some cases of relevant
education (training and learning) for academics, and issues of entrepreneurial
orientation and knowledge management in the use of created knowledge.
Purpose
This study aims to explore the extent to which inter-organizational hybrid governance manages the micro design for optimum reverse knowledge transfer in the open innovation context. The authors use two essential facets of micro design in hybrid governance: product adaptation and integration mechanism.
Design/methodology/approach
Data for this study were collected from franchisees through structured questionnaires in Indonesia.
Findings
Results indicated that product adaptation has a positive relationship with reverse knowledge transfer. This study also found that the formalization strengthens the relationship between product adaptation and reverse knowledge transfer. However, the socialization does not have a moderation effect.
Research limitations/implications
This research estimates the knowledge transfer from the agent’s side only. Therefore, further research is expected to estimate the reverse knowledge transfer in dyads (from agent and principal) to get a detailed understanding of reverse knowledge transfer.
Practical implications
This study offers guidelines to managers, especially in inter-organizational hybrid governance. The authors suggest reverse knowledge transfer as a form to manage the dispersed knowledge from their agents. Governing institutions should change their view that agents have diverse knowledgebase from experience adapting to local conditions and can improve their open innovation through reverse knowledge transfer. From the results, it is found that giving agents the flexibility to adapt products can boost reverse knowledge transfer to support open innovation.
Originality/value
This study provides an understanding of the utilization of external knowledge sourcing in the context of open innovation from agent to principal in hybrid governance through reverse knowledge transfer, which has thus far been empirically under-researched.
As manufacturing companies increasingly focus on their core business, the interest in the utilisation of external services provided by system suppliers and service companies increases. Currently an increasing number of services are purchased from service supply networks. Furthermore, globalisation, complexity of technological innovations and demand for integrated solutions also create need for networking and collaboration. Establishing or improving the performance of the networked service providers, the value net, is a long-term effort, requiring the build up of trust between the partners. The necessary condition of moving from a subcontractor relationship to a strategic network or partnership is the sharing of the view of joint gains in a prospective value net. How do we then evaluate the added value of moving to a new partnership? What network strategies provide the win-win network solution? This paper is a tentative effort in answering these questions based on Decision Analysis.
Papers selected for this issue address important research questions about technology transfer when faced with the situation of partners imbalanced power, which has not been examined extensively in previous literature. These papers provide new insights and important empirical findings. Seven papers, reporting recent research results on the main topics of governance technology transfer management, have been chosen. The papers' summary of insights are provided for the readers of the International Journal of Technology Management.
Purpose
– This paper aims to present a model that explains how knowledge contributions of international joint venture (“IJV”) partners can be balanced or imbalanced, which affects each partners’ trust needs, with implications for future partner relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
– Illustrative examples aid in explaining propositions associated with the knowledge/trust needs balance model. In addition, consideration is given to the trust-building complication of liability of foreignness and the implications balance or imbalance.
Findings
– In total, 12 illustrative cases are evaluated to determine whether the knowledge contributions of the IJV partners are balanced. Knowledge intensity associated with the venture is assessed to determine the value of the foreign firm partner’s knowledge contribution. Cultural distance between the relevant countries provides a measure of the host country partner’s knowledge contribution. Balance is assessed after factoring in mitigating partner experience. The cases provide examples of four different balance/imbalance situations.
Practical implications
– A critical aspect of a successful IJV is knowledge sharing and trust is required for the freest flow of information. It is important for firms entering into IJVs to more fully understand the relationship between the knowledge contributions of IJV partners and trust. When knowledge contributions are more evenly balanced, the relationship between the partners will be stronger.
Originality/value
– The paper distinguishes between balance and stability/instability, expands the literature on knowledge intensity and contributes the new concept of trust needs. Balance at the start of an IJV has implications for the future relationship of the partners.
This ongoing exploratory research seeks to identify the impact of IT capabilities on organizations' performance in an offshoring context. It seeks as well to validate the research model developed. An analysis of the antecedents of the setup of IT capabilities is also done. Through the analysis of cases involving real-life SMEs, we want to enrich the academic and professional understanding on the impact of IT capabilities on performance in the context of production offshoring.
Purpose
– This paper aims to provide guidance for managers so that they may develop advanced supply chain management (SCM) capabilities in the context of asymmetric alliances. These alliances, generally characterised by large dissimilarities between the partners, often facilitate value-creating opportunities.
Design/methodology/approach
– Using case studies, the paper analyses similarities and differences in SCM between symmetric and asymmetric alliances within supply networks. It focusses on the key dimensions of complementarity, value distribution, relational management and specialisation.
Findings
– It was found that the question of complementarity, although important, should not be equated to the need for symmetry but to the ability of the firms in the supply network to learn to work together. For small firms who seek co-creation with large partners, this means collaboration, specialisation through relation-specific investments, flexibility and understanding the overall value system in which their business relationships compete is important.
Practical implications
– Small firms seeking to develop advanced SCM capabilities have to accept responsibility for selecting a reduced number of key partners and managing relationships. Firms should proactively use the contractual process to learn about partners' expectations and goals and to identify committed champions. These factors play an important role in developing communications and trust, as small firms do not have easy access to senior managers in large corporations.
Originality/value
– This paper discovered a novel concept – dual value appropriation – where partners do not divide the total value generated as frequently proposed in the literature, but that it is fully appropriated, as it represents a different value proposition for each of them.
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to examine how security-related issues affect business in an integrated economic space. North America is an interesting case, as Canada and the USA have historically been highly integrated economies.
Design/methodology/approach
– Research that focuses on the relationship between security and business is reviewed. First, the perception of security issues by business leaders is examined. Second, the North American case is discussed.
Findings
– In the decade following 9-11, not all industries felt the aftermath in the same way, and business leaders from Canada and the USA did not necessarily focus on the same priorities. A thickening border is increasingly challenging for firms even though they have historically coped somewhat efficiently.
Research limitations/implications
– This paper has implications for integrated economies. Policymakers need to frame their response to security issues in a way that takes into account their effect on trade and firms.
Practical implications
– Given terrorism’s impact on industries, the differences in priority ascribed to the issue by executives and the varying responses to address the problem, ensuring the ongoing gains from transborder business activity, requires creative solutions.
Originality/value
– The effect of security on business is seldom studied. This paper provides a vivid example of the interplay between these two critical elements. This renewed understanding allows policymakers and business executives to find a common ground so that security issues are not dealt with at the expense of firms and cross-border trade.
Purpose
– The purpose of this exploratory study is to highlight the stages in the relationship which eventually lead to an integrated logistics alliance.
Design/methodology/approach
– The stages involved in the evolutionary process have been explained with the help of concepts of mental models and knowledge-related asymmetries. The study has been justified by applying multiple case research design which involves examples of successful logistics alliances.
Findings
– The analysis using case study approach provides a detailed overview how third-party logistics providers develop successful relationships with different industry firms over a period of time which eventually lead to innovations benefiting both the partners.
Research limitations/implications
– In the paper, a qualitative case study methodology has been adopted which is limited in nature when compared to quantitative approach. Nevertheless, the multiple cases discussed in the paper involve organizations from diverse sectors thus providing a holistic perspective and adding value to the current strategic alliance literature.
Practical implications
– The complete understanding of the concepts discussed in this paper will help companies revisit their business strategies and identify areas of improvements in their current engagement practices with third-party logistics providers.
Originality/value
– Many a time, relationships fail to develop into an alliance and research related to the attributes causing these failures might be limited. In the past, though many papers have talked about strategic alliances between third-party logistics providers and customers, little has been discussed about how such relationships evolve into successful strategic alliances.
Purpose
– Economic agents in systems (individuals, firms, government organizations, etc.) engage in a wide range of cooperative activities that may be mapped as networks. This paper aims at determining whether alliances embedded in such networks show higher densities of interaction between agents than other network subsets.
Design/methodology/approach
– This paper uses the blockmodeling technique on a unique sample of armed forces that have engaged in repeated cooperative behaviour over a decade.
Findings
– This study finds that the alliance in the sample does exhibit a significantly higher density of interaction than the rest of the network.
Research limitations/implications
– Using blockmodeling may be necessary, but not sufficient, to ascertain the presence of undisclosed alliances in networks.
Practical implications
– This work is useful for the detection of potential or actual collusive behaviour in the form of higher densities of interactions between agents in systems.
Originality/value
– Blockmodeling, as a technique, and agents like armed forces, as a sample, are uncommon occurrences in the contemporary cybernetics and general systems literature. This paper provides novel insights to research on collaborative behaviour.
Purpose ‐ This paper attempts to propose an integrated model for measuring the knowledge transfer effectiveness in university-industry alliances. The so-called "RDCE" model is thereby proposed as an integrated model for measuring the knowledge transfer effectiveness. By combining inter-organizational relations (IORs), knowledge-based view (KBV) and resource-based view (RBV) of firms, this paper aims to focus on the influence of determinant factors such as partner complementarities, partner attributes, the characteristics of the coordination and relationship quality between industrial companies and universities that may lead to the effectiveness of knowledge transfer. Design/methodology/approach ‐ This framework thereby clarifies how mediating variables influenced the paths that constitute the direct, indirect and total effects of mediated models by integrating moderated regression analysis together with bootstrap resampling methods to ensure the precision in estimating confidence intervals of indirect effects and path analysis using structural equation models to test all the hypotheses simultaneously for the robustness of the results and conclusions. Findings ‐ The statistical results reveal that the proposed model has a significant mediating effect that contributes to knowledge transfer effectiveness. Only partner attributes and relationship factors have a direct impact on the effectiveness of knowledge transfer. This appears plausible since mere complementarities and coordination between partners may not lead to learning or knowledge transfer, which requires a certain depth of the partner interaction in terms of the specific attributes of partners, coordination and relationship quality. Research limitations/implications ‐ The authors assumed that the alliance constitutes partnerships between firms of roughly equal size and market power. Therefore, this study provided only broad perspectives of collaboration among alliance partners, and did not capitalize on different degree of alliance integration and different types of collaboration. Practical implications ‐ Managerial suggestions on how to improve their knowledge transfer effectiveness are also provided at the end of the text. Originality/value ‐ There are numerous studies examining alliance network performance. Very few studies, however, have examined detailed collaborative activities in dyadic university-industry partnerships and potential constructs for measuring knowledge transfer and commercialization in the research and development alliance between industrial firms and university context.
Asymmetric alliances, those between small technology ventures and large industry players, defy established wisdom regarding the positive relationship between alliance partner similarities and alliance performance. What can we learn from these increasingly prevalent alliance forms to inform and extend alliance theory and practice? To help answer this question, this paper reports on the qualitative study of three asymmetric alliances, one failure and two successes, identifies key conceptual differences between symmetric and asymmetric alliances not addressed in the literature to date, suggests research opportunities and makes recommendations on how technology entrepreneurs can manage their relationship with large partners.
Strategic alliances play a critical role in the business of Multinational Enterprises (MNEs), such as HP and IBM, which are under pressure because of ongoing e-business transformation. This study explores the phenomenon of strategy differences in allying with Taiwan local companies between two e-business MNEs, IBM and HP, subsidiaries under technological changes and globalisation. We find that, even though the subsidiaries have followed the e-business strategies inherited from their parent companies in some ways, the motivations for IBM Taiwan and HP Taiwan to ally with local firms are consistent with Dunning's reappraised eclectic paradigm. Our findings also indicate that these two MNEs subsidiaries ally asymmetrically with local firms by using non-equity alliances. In addition, we find that Taiwanese partner firms have a particular interest in forming scale (horizontal) alliances with e-business MNEs. Specifically, this study extends the explanations and implications of the Familiarity Matrix, links it to the OLI model and explores the role of technology in MNEs international strategic alliance activities.
This paper analyses the governance of knowledge partnerships that form a relationship, where each partner keeps its identity while knowledge is transferred from a powerful to a weaker partner. By using theories and five international cases of technology transfer, this analysis reveals specific features of knowledge partnerships, characterised mainly by an imbalanced power in knowledge and risk. The results of this paper show that many studies dealing with alliances between equal partners may lose their validity when one of the partners has more power than the other. Seven hypotheses and a conceptual diagram are suggested.
Most studies of governance modes in cross border technology alliances treat contractual alliance forms and equity joint ventures as substitutes. Our sample allows us to explore when firms are likely to adopt licensing agreements without equity arrangements, in contrast to hybrid alliances that use equity joint ventures and licensing agreements together. Findings for our data provide little support for often repeated – and yet seldom tested – hypothesis that equity joint ventures may be formed to serve as a 'mutual hostage' for alliance participants, because of the fear of partner opportunism and its consequences. Rather, our findings point more strongly in favour of equity-based alliances being formed when the primary technology holder has stronger bargaining power, when patents are of importance, and when the strategic objectives of the alliance envisage future technology transfers.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to organize the theoretical landscape surrounding explanations of the impact asymmetry and heterogeneity on inter‐firm relationships, especially alliances.
Design/methodology/approach
A conceptual framework integrating the resource‐based view, transaction cost economics and industrial organization is put forth to better understand asymmetry and heterogeneity in alliances.
Findings
It is argued that low asymmetry and low heterogeneity are best addressed from an industrial organization perspective. Transaction cost economics best explains alliances in high asymmetry and low heterogeneity situations while the resource‐based view is most appropriate for high heterogeneity and low asymmetry alliances. In the case of high asymmetry and high heterogeneity, the tension between the resource‐based view and transaction costs economics is reconciled.
Research limitations/implications
Researchers gain an original re‐framing of the theoretical landscape that will assist in generating new insights for future theory development.
Practical implications
The paper lays the ground for new research directions while leaving practitioners with a better understanding of the lenses through which they should examine their firms' cooperative endeavours.
Originality/value
Previous literature seldom addressed the categorization of various theoretical approaches along the notions of asymmetry and heterogeneity in inter‐firm relationships.
Purpose
Firms are increasingly confronted with a complex and dynamic competitive environment. The purpose of this paper is to shed some light on the way firms can cope with – and succeed in – such an environment.
Design/methodology/approach
The article examines major factors that are driving a global structural shift toward increased global competition. After identifying the difficulties behind the management of value creation, it focuses on the specific role of intangibles with a view to building a responsive firm.
Findings
It is found that intangibles are the key to sustaining value creation in a complex and dynamic environment. Following this, some consideration is given to the elements that help build responsive firms. The paper concludes by proposing actionable ways for managers to leverage intangible‐based practices.
Originality/value
The case for leveraging intangibles is advanced through a mix between an international business perspective and the combined role of knowledge and cluster‐like environments. Numerous real‐world examples help substantiate the analysis.
Leading open innovation across global strategic alliances: A grounded theory study
Individual businesses from a variety of sectors network and work together to create a successful tourist experience. The interdependencies of organisations producing this experience make cooperation a necessity in destination marketing. Despite the centrality of cooperation and networking in tourism marketing relatively little empirical research has been conducted in this area. This thesis uses the case of the development of the official NZ website www.purenz.com (purenz) to examine the role, form and process of inter-organisational cooperation in destination marketing. Drawing on in-depth interviews with thirty- five industry members involved in establishing and managing www.purenz.com between 1999 and 2006 this thesis makes a number of contributions to both the marketing and tourism literature. The thesis confirms that there are considerable difficulties in broadening the marketing role of the national tourism organisation (NTO) beyond destination promotion. The study also finds that destination marketing and destination management are still perceived as separate processes in the NZ tourism industry. In addition, the results of this study provide support for the view that the social networks in which firms are embedded have a considerable influence on inter-organisational alliance formation. This thesis contributes to the development of theoretical approaches to the study of cooperation in destination marketing by identifying five levels of cooperation in destination marketing: passive acceptance, support, alignment, contribution and pooling. The levels are based on the different types of input that may be required from stakeholders by the NTO. The level of cooperation desired in a particular context is a strategic choice to be made by the destination marketing management. This choice is affected by the existing characteristics of the tourism network; the NTO leaders’ perception of the need for and value of cooperation in destination marketing and also by the extent of shared understanding of the scope of destination marketing management among tourism stakeholders. The research points to the need to develop further the network characteristics affecting cooperation in destination marketing. Further work is also needed to develop a more complete profile of the five levels of cooperation identified by this study and the investment required to achieve each level of cooperation.
Ever since the Bolton Report (1971), academics and policy makers have looked towards the small business sector as a primary source of economic development, innovation and growth. The realisation that fast growing SMEs are major contributors to economic prosperity has also seen these firms being increasingly attributed with a more central role in the development of wealth, innovation, employment and national competitiveness. Additionally, whilst network arrangements are often seen on a broad scale as a foundation for economic growth, this can also be seen specifically at the level of the regional economy (see Brusco 1982; Brusco and Righi 1989) where promotion of geographically-based entrepreneurial networks and clusters often occurs (Kinsella 1989), suggesting a particular importance for proximity in these processes. In terms of innovation also, there is increasing belief that learning and therefore innovation occurs through a highly interactive, iterative and networked approach (Weick, 1990; Cooke, 1998).
There is also evidence, however, that such beneficial collaborations can often be non-local in nature; a recent study into the effects of social capital on SME performance found that innovative and higher growth firms tend to make greater use of non-local networks (Cooke et al. 2005). This highlights a need to evaluate the importance of both local and non-local linkages in SME innovation and growth processes. Moreover, the multi-faceted nature of innovation processes highlighted by Leyesdorff (2000) suggests this should involve the examination of wide-ranging relationships (e.g. with other firms, government agencies, universities, etc.).
This paper therefore examines the interrelationships between small firm growth and innovation and the impact upon these of collaborative relationships between SMEs and industry, government and institutional stakeholders, at both local and non-local levels, to begin to explore the importance of these relationships in the complex processes of growth and innovation.
The authors examine the meaning of control in international joint ventures (IJVs) and the relationships of potential means of control in such organizations to the performance satisfaction of the foreign partner. They propose a conceptual model that provides both a traditional ownership-focused internalization perspective on those issues and an integrated approach combining a broader transaction cost interpretation of control with a resource input-based bargaining power model. A set of simultaneous structural equations with endogenous explanatory variables provides multiple possible paths from various resource and power inputs through different means of control to perceived performance satisfaction. In such a model, intermediate variables act both as dependent and independent variables; thus the complex theoretical interactions of the variables are modeled more comprehensively and realistically than in single-equation models.
To test the model and compare the theoretical relationships, the authors used data from a survey of managers in Norwegian multinational firms having at least one IJV. For structural equation modeling with latent variables, they used the LISREL VII program that simultaneously fits the measured variables to the latent variables and provides a maximum likelihood solution for the structural equation system. The results clearly reject the traditional internalization approach to IJV governance that relies strictly on ownership share to delineate degree of control. However, relative resource input has a strong relationship to relative bargaining of the parent companies, which then drives equity share, control over specific activities, and perceptions of overall control of the IJV. That result supports a bargaining-power-based model of IJV control. The relatedness of the strategic resources of the parent and the joint venture also drives specific control, implying that although transaction risk is important to governance, governance is provided by specific control rather than ownership level. Perceptions of performance are strongly and positively related to overall control.
Those results suggest that specialized control provides both protection and exploitation of key resource inputs and is gained through increased bargaining power. Higher levels of specific control result in a perception of overall control and thereby satisfaction with perceived levels of IJV performance among foreign parent company managers. Interestingly, traditional exogenous determinants of IJV control and performance such as government mandates, cultural similarity, and international experience levels fail to provide significant effects. Rather, the focus is on endogenous aspects of the parent-IJV relationship, suggesting that the key to parent firm satisfaction with an IJV is control over operations that use key strategic inputs from the parent.
Alliances are volatile key components of many corporations' competitive strategies. They offer fast and flexible means of achieving market access, scale economies, and competence development. However, strategic alliances can encounter difficulties that often lead to disappointing performance. The authors suggest that the way partners manage the collective learning process plays a central role in the success and failure of strategic alliances.
Present understanding of interorganizational learning primarily focuses on how the individual organization can be a “good partner” or try to win the internal “race to learn” among the partners. The interorganizational learning dilemma is that (1) being a good partner invites exploitation by partners attempting to maximize their individual appropriation of the joint learning, and (2) such opportunistic learning strategies undercut the collective knowledge development in the strategic alliance.
The authors develop a framework for understanding the dilemma through consideration of trade-offs between how collective learning is developed in alliances and how the joint learning outcomes are divided among the partners. They create a typology of five different learning strategies based on how receptive as well as how transparent an organization is in relation to its partners. The strategies are: collaboration (highly receptive and highly transparent); competition (highly receptive and nontransparent); compromise (moderately receptive and transparent); accommodation (nonreceptive and highly transparent); and avoidance (neither receptive nor transparent). Interorganizational learning outcomes are proposed to be the interactive results of the respective partners' type of adopted learning strategy.
By synthesizing strategic alliance, organizational learning, collective action, and game theories, the framework contributes to understanding the variety in alliance development, performance, and longevity. Interorganizational learning is likely to be hindered by lack of either motivation or ability to absorb and communicate knowledge between the partner organizations. The dynamics of power, opportunism, suspicion, and asymmetric learning strategies can constitute processual barriers to collective knowledge development. In contrast, prior related interaction between the partners, high learning stakes, trust, and long-term orientation are likely to empower the collective learning process.
Comparison of previous case studies and surveys of interorganizational learning provides partial empirical support for the proposed framework. The comparison also indicates several omissions in previous research, such as failure to consider either how receptive or how transparent the partners are, the interaction between their learning strategies, and their dynamic processes over time. Because these omissions are due partly to the methodological limitations of traditional case studies and crosssectional surveys, the authors suggest a bridging case survey design for a more comprehensive test of their interactive, dynamic, and situational framework.
This paper examines interfirm knowledge transfers within strategic alliances. Using a new measure of changes in alliance partners' technological capabilities, based on the citation patterns of their patent portfolios, we analyze changes in the extent to which partner firms' technological resources ‘overlap’ as a result of alliance participation. This measure allows us to test hypotheses from the literature on interfirm knowledge transfer in alliances, with interesting results: we find support for some elements of this ‘received wisdom’—equity arrangements promote greater knowledge transfer, and ‘absorptive capacity’ helps explain the extent of technological capability transfer, at least in some alliances. But the results also suggest limits to the ‘capabilities acquisition’ view of strategic alliances. Consistent with the argument that alliance activity can promote increased specialization, we find that the capabilities of partner firms become more divergent in a substantial subset of alliances.
We build on an emerging strategy literature that views the firm as a bundle of resources and capabilities, and examine conditions that contribute to the realization of sustainable economic rents. Because of (1) resource-market imperfections and (2) discretionary managerial decisions about resource development and deployment, we expect firms to differ (in and out of equilibrium) in the resources and capabilities they control. This asymmetry in turn can be a source of sustainable economic rent. The paper focuses on the linkages between the industry analysis framework, the resource-based view of the firm, behavioral decision biases and organizational implementation issues. It connects the concept of Strategic Industry Factors at the market level with the notion of Strategic Assets at the firm level. Organizational rent is shown to stem from imperfect and discretionary decisions to develop and deploy selected resources and capabilities, made by boundedly rational managers facing high uncertainty, complexity, and intrafirm conflict.
Computer networks are an increasingly important technology for improving the efficiency of information processing and providing shared access to information resources. Because computer networks are increasingly being used to support the flow of information between and within organizations, their use both influences and has consequences for interorganizational relationships. An important and widespread application of interorganizational computer networks is Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), which refers to the computer-based exchange of standardized business-related information between buyer and supplier firms. The following theoretical framework addresses the role that power and trust play in EDI adoption and use. Firms with greater power can influence their trading partners to adopt EDI. But power can be exercised in different ways. Because computer networks provide a way for certain information to be more accessible to outside parties, their use makes organizational boundaries more permeable. When firms use coercive power to force trading partners to adopt EDI, less powerful partners may be left more vulnerable. And, over time this perceived vulnerability becomes a constraint in interorganizational relationships that prevents improvements in coordination through expanded use of EDI. On the other hand, when the event of EDI adoption is viewed as an opportunity to build and reinforce trust between firms, the relationship is able to support organizational changes (e.g., restructuring operational processes or new modes of distribution) related to EDI use which contribute to improving interorganizational coordination. The role of power and trust in EDI adoption has important implications for interorganizational theory. Their role may be especially helpful in understanding how technology, and, in particular, electronic media support strategic alliances that firms create to advance mutual goals.
We introduce this Special Issue by providing an overview of the interplay between communication technology and various dimensions of new organizational forms. We consider the major factors motivating dramatic change within and between organizations today, and describe key dimensions of intraorganizational and interorganizational forms that are linked to electronic communication technologies: vertical control, horizontal coordination, size of organization and constituent units, new types of coupling, core product, communication cultures, ownership and control, interorganizational coupling, strategic alliances, and interstitial linking. Our purpose is to sample the changes attendant upon advances in electronic communication and organizational forms, with the goal of energizing future research. Our overview uncovers possibilities for new avenues of study within the technology-organization relationship and reveals the important contributions made by the articles in this Special Issue.
We argue in this paper that when the knowledge base of an industry is both complex and expanding and the sources of expertise are widely dispersed, the locus of innovation will be found in networks of learning, rather than in individual firms. The large-scale reliance on interorganizational collaborations in the biotechnology industry reflects a fundamental and pervasive concern with access to knowledge. We develop a network approach to organizational learning and derive firm-level, longitudinal hypotheses that link research and development alliances, experience with managing interfirm relationships, network position, rates of growth, and portfolios of collaborative activities. We test these hypotheses on a sample of dedicated biotechnology firms in the years 1990-1994. Results from pooled, within-firm, time series analyses support a learning view and have broad implications for future theoretical and empirical research on organizational networks and strategic alliances.•.
Competition between alliance blocks is a new form of rivalry: groups of firms link together for a common purpose by means of strategic alliances, and competition between alliance blocks is superimposed on competition between individual firms. This paper focuses on alliance blocks in the RISC microprocessor field. In this field, alliance block competition is shaped by battles over technical standards. Based on an analysis of the competitive forces in standards battles, and taking into con-sideration the need for internal coordination within alliance blocks, we expect to find the formation of alliance blocks around the various proprietary RISC designs, with scarce linkages across blocks. The blocks will consist of complementary firms, including all the capabilities necessary to compete against other alliance blocks. The requisites of internal coordination, finally, lead us to expect alliance blocks with star-like internal structures when the central firm has either a very weak, or a very strong position. In intermediate cases, we expect to find alliance blocks with internal structures more approaching the characteristics of fully-connected cliques. The findings from a quantitative analysis of the network structure as it evolved in the RISC field in the period 1980–1989 support these conjectures.
Alliances and similar cooperative efforts are receiving increased attention in the strategic management literature. These relationships differ in significant ways from those governed by markets or hierarchies, and pose very different issues for researchers and managers. In this paper we address alternative forms of governance in cases where multiple organizations repeatedly cooperate. We explore their characteristics and follow this with a discussion of criteria which we believe bear on the choice of governance: risk and reliance on trust. We offer propositions on relationships between these criteria and the choice of governance mechanisms. In the concluding section of the paper we explore the implications of our analysis for managers and scholars.
Interfirm partnering has become a familiar aspect of corporate behavior as it is found in a large number of industries with many Companies participating in strategic alliances. This paper focuses on questions that are related to market structural issues of this phenomenon in an international context. It raises the question whether alliances establish stable networks of firms, and whether market leading firms dominate the world of strategic partnering. Our contribution stresses the need for a further understanding of cooperative behavior in terms of the increase of corporate flexibility and the extension of core competences of companies.
With the transformation of global capital markets, it has become essential for American managers to consider capital market relationships as a part of their overall corporate strategies. This article explores these strategies from the point of view of America’s leading industrial competitor, Japan. Japanese firms have forged special business alliances that link banks, shareholders, and trading partners together into coherent groupings of mutual interest. These alliances have resulted in close investormanagement relationships quite different from those in the U.S. This in turn has shaped other facets of Japanese business, including its long-term investment strategies and its internal management systems. © 1987, Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Global competition is forcing firms to rethink the question of how new organizational knowledge is acquired. New knowledge provides the foundation for new skills, which in turn can lead to competitive success. However, few firms systematically manage the process of knowledge acquisition. This paper explores international strategic alliances and their potential for learning and knowledge acquisition. In bringing together firms with different skills, knowledge bases, and organizational cultures, alliances create unique learning opportunities for the partner firms. Based on the assumption that organizational learning is both a function of access to new knowledge and the capabilities for using and building on such knowledge, the paper focuses on alliance knowledge accessibility and firm learning effectiveness.
Developing a dedicated alliance function is key to building the expertise needed for competitive advantage.
The aim of this paper is to shed some light on the complex relationships between codified and tacit knowledge. This supposes a first step is to distinguish clearly the notion of knowledge from the notion of information. A model of knowledge as a structure is then proposed from which an analysis of the content, significance and implications of the tacit dimension of knowledge can be derived. The paper emphasizes the importance of the context, the modes of conversion of knowledge and the role of knowing communities when analysing the relationships between tacit and codified knowledge. Copyright 2000 by Oxford University Press.
This study of the international partner selection of firms from emerging (Mexico, Poland, and Romania) and developed (Canada, France, and the United States) markets supports resource-based and organizational learning explanations of such partner selection, a critical factor for success with international strategic alliances. Emerging market firms emphasized financial assets, technical capabilities, intangible assets, and willingness to share expertise in selection of partners more than developed market firms. In contrast, developed market firms tried to leverage their resources through partner selection. In particular, they emphasized unique competencies and local market knowledge and access in their partner selection more than emerging market firms.
The model developed draws on resource-based, information-processing, and organizational learning theories to show how JV control processes affect the dynamics of interpartner learning. According to the model, firms forming learning-related JVs match with partners in line with their differences in capability and other requirements; the result is referred to as the asymmetry-need configuration. A satisfactory post-negotiation match implies a balance in perceived bargaining power, enabling both partners to institute controls appropriate for the specific types of learning undertaken. The model stresses that appropriate controls are essential for learning to take place, yet dissimilar learning needs or learning capabilities of the two partners may nonetheless result in unequal learning rates. Such unequal learning sets into motion a continual reconfiguration of the original relationship between the two partners, including modification of the initial asymmetry-need configuration and perception of bargaining power. The model emphasizes that JVs with learning objectives are inherently and inevitably dynamic because of these internal processes. However, control mechanisms themselves are an important means for diagnosing these processes and realigning the relationship.
The formulation of such a process model helps to integrate many aspects of the JV relationship, including initial configuration, partner bargaining power, JV controls, and interpartner learning. In addition, the model captures the evolution of the partner relationship over the life of the JV. The focus on JV control processes in this research complements the insights gained from previous work that has looked at JV learning mainly in relation to the characteristics of the partners.
The purpose of this study is to identify groups of firms with similar generic knowledge strategies, determine how these strategies change over time, and compare profit margins of the groups. Knowledge strategies of 21 U.S. pharmaceutical firms are analyzed from 1977 to 1991. Cluster analysis is used to group firms over different time periods based on: (a) balance between internal and external learning, (b) preference for radical or incremental learning, (c) learning speed, and (d) breadth of knowledge base. Our findings indicate that there are four generic knowledge strategy groups: ‘Explorers’, ‘Exploiters’, ‘Loners’, and ‘Innovators’. Most firms remain in the same knowledge group over time. The firms in the ‘Innovator’ and ‘Explorer’ groups tend to be more profitable than the firms in the ‘Exploiter’ and ‘Loner’ groups.
Network researchers have argued that both relational embeddedness—characteristics of relationships—and structural embeddedness—characteristics of the relational structure—influence firm behavior and performance. Using strategic alliance networks in the semiconductor and steel industries, we build on past embeddedness research by examining the interaction of these factors. We argue that the roles relational and structural embeddedness play in firm performance can only be understood with reference to the other. Moreover, we argue that the influence of these factors on firm performance is contingent on industry context. More specifically, our empirical analysis suggests that strong ties in a highly interconnected strategic alliance network negatively impact firm performance. This network configuration is especially suboptimal for firms in the semiconductor industry. Furthermore, strong and weak ties are positively related to firm performance in the steel and semiconductor industries, respectively. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
In this adaptation of their book 'Competing for the Future,' the authors urge senior managers to look toward the future and ponder their ability to shape their companies in the years and decades to come. If the future is not occupying senior managers, what is? Restructuring and reengineering. Since change is inevitable, managers must decide whether it will happen in a crisis atmosphere or in a calm and considered manner, with foresight about the future of the industry. Too often, profound thinking about the future occurs only when present success has been eroded. To get ahead of the industry change curve, senior managers must recognize that the real focus for their companies is the chance to compete for the future.
This paper addresses the question of how the performance of joint business ventures in developing countries could be improved. It focusses on the contributions of each partner to the venture. The research found that MNE executives in high performing ventures looked to their local partners for greater contributions than did MNE executives in low performing ventures. MNE executives in the high performing ventures characteristically looked to local partners for specific contributions such as local knowledge and local management. MNE executives in low performing ventures were less interested in local partners for specific contributions. Rather they were looking for a partner to satisfy existing/expected government requirements for local ownership or to avoid political intervention.
This paper proposes a co-evolutionary theory of strategic alliances. The paper proposes a framework which views strategic alliances in the context of the adaptation choices of a firm. Strategic alliances, in this view, are embedded in a firm's strategic portfolio, and co-evolve with the firm's strategy, the institutional, organizational and competitive environment, and with management intent for the alliance. Specifically, we argue that alliance intent may be described, at any time, as having either exploitation or exploration objectives. We further discuss how the morphology of an alliance-absorptive capacity, control, and identification-may be isomorphic with its intent, and, in the aggregate, drive the evolution of the population of alliances.
Why do firms form strategic alliances? The traditional theoretical answer has been transaction cost explanations. Yet, these explanations which center on transaction characteristics, static efficiency, and routine situations do not capture the strategic and social factors which propel many firms into alliance formation. In this study, however, we combine these alternative social and strategic explanations for alliance formation. Consistent with these explanations, we find that alliances form when firms are in vulnerable strategic positions either because they are competing in emergent or highly competitive industries or because they are attempting pioneering technical strategies. We also find that alliances form when firms are in strong social positions such that they are led by large, experienced, and well-connected top management teams. The underlying logic of alliance formation is, thus, strategic needs and social opportunities.
We develop these findings by extending the resource-based view of the firm to alliance formation and then examining the resulting hypotheses using product development alliances. The study is longitudinal and focuses on entrepreneurial semiconductor firms. Overall, strategic and social explanations of organizational phenomena as well as industry, firm, and top management team factors emerge as central in the paper. This suggests that these factors are relevant for predicting alliance formation, especially in high-velocity industries such as semiconductors. We conclude that failure to include social and strategic explanations creates an impoverished view of alliance formation.
Strategic alliances, a manifestation of interorganizational cooperative strategies, entails the pooling of specific resources
and skills by the cooperating organizations in order to achieve common goals, as well as goals specific to the individual
partners. Gaining access to new markets; accelerating the pace of entry into new markets; sharing of research and development,
manufacturing, and/or marketing costs; broadening the product line/filling product line gaps; and learning new skills are
among the motives underlying the entry of firms into strategic alliances. During the last decade, an increasing number of
firms have entered into alliances with other firms within the same industry, as well as within other industries. Some firms
have progressed well beyond forming isolated alliances to establishing a web of intra- and interindustry, and intra-and international
strategic alliances. Against this backdrop, we provide a synthesis of the conceptual foundations of strategic alliances and
explore the role of marketing in strategic alliances.
With the transformation of global capital markets, it has become essential for American managers to consider capital market relationships as a part of their overall corporate strategies. This article explores these strategies from the point of view of America's leading industrial competitor, Japan. Japanese firms have forged special business alliances that link banks, shareholders, and trading partners together into coherent groupings of mutual interest. These alliances have resulted in close investormanagement relationships quite different from those in the U.S. This in turn has shaped other facets of Japanese business, including its long-term investment strategies and its internal management systems.
Joint ventures undertaken by domestic corporations with other American companies engaged in manufacturing or oil and gas extraction were studied. It was hypothesized that these ventures, in which a new organizational entity was formed, were a form of interorganizational linkage used to manage interorganizational interdependence, both competitive and symbiotic. Very large firms engaged in joint projects, and patterns of joint venture activity tended to follow the exchange of resources across industrial sectors. Examining the variation in the proportion of joint venture activities undertaken within the organization's own industry, it was found that conditions of industrial concentration, related to competitive interdependence, accounted for a significant amount of the variance. An industry-by-industry analysis showed that joint ventures were more highly related to purchase transactions interdependence to the extent the industry was highly concentrated and had a higher proportion of its employment engaged in research and development. Sales transactions interdependence accounted for more of the variance in the pattern of joint venture activities when the industry was moderately concentrated. And both sales and purchase interdependence were more highly related to joint venture activity to the extent that the industry was capital intensive.
Suggests that the concepts of partnerships and strategic alliances are increasingly emphasized in literature and “real life”, which might lead managers to believe that partnership‐style relationships, as opposed to arm′s length relationships, are necessary for a firm to compete successfully. Explores why, how, and when to establish a wide range of possible business‐to‐business relationships. The inter‐organizational relationship literature suggests six reasons for forming relationships: necessity, asymmetry, reciprocity, efficiency, stability, and legitimacy. Compares this framework with six partnership characteristics based on the partnership‐building literature: planning, sharing of benefits and burdens, extendedness, systematic operational information exchange, operating controls, and corporate culture bridge building. Suggests that firms should concentrate on how to develop “good business relationships”, which may have varying levels of partnership characteristics.
This article integrates the literature on interorganizational relationships into six generalizable determinants of relationship formation, applies these determinants to the prediction of six types of interorganizational relations, and proposes hypotheses for future research that specify the conditions under which each determinant will be more likely to predict different types of relations. These determinants provide the basis for a general theory of interorganizational relationships and suggest that alternative theoretical perspectives on relationship formation provide important but only partial insights into why organizations enter into relationships with one another.
Although the high rate of instability of international joint ventures (IJVs) hers been well documented, the underlying reasons for the instability need clarification. In this article, we develop ct theoretical framework for instability of IJVs grounded in a bargaining power and dependence perspective. Instability is defined as a major change in partner relationship status that is unplanned and premature from one or both partners' perspectives. The core argument is that the instability of IJVs is associated with shifts in partner bargaining power. Shifts in the balance of bargaining power occur when partners of an IJV acquire sufficient knowledge and skills to eliminate a partner dependency and make the IJV bargain obsolete. Our primary focus is on the acquisition of local knowledge by the foreign partner and the impact that this acquisition of knowledge has on the stability of the IJV.
This article bridges two important subjects in strategy: competitor analysis and interfirm rivalry. Through a refined conceptualization of competitor analysis, the article introduces two firm-specific, theory-based constructs: market commonality, developed from the literature on multiple-point competition, and resource similarity, derived from the resource-based theory of the firm. The joint consideration of these two constructs shows the complementarity of these two prominent but contrasting strategy theories. Each firm has a unique market profile and strategic resource endowment, and a pair-wise comparison with a given competitor along these two dimensions will help to illuminate the prebattle competitive tension between these two firms and to predict how a focal firm may interact with each of its competitors. The idea of competitive asymmetry is introduced, that is, the notion that a given pair of firms may not pose an equal degree of threat to each other. To illustrate competitor mapping, measures of these two constructs are proposed, and an example is offered. The article ends with a number of implications for research and practice.
Maintaining robust cooperation in interfirm strategic alliances poses special problems. Such relationships have received growing attention in recent research grounded in game theory, which has suggested that some alliance structures are inherently more likely than others to be associated with high opportunity to cheat, high behavioral uncertainty, and poor stability, longevity, and performance. The present study merged these theoretical insights with the logic of transaction cost economics in a general model of alliance structuring and tested it with data from ill interfirm alliances. Findings generally supported the model and hypotheses, suggesting the need for a greater focus on game theoretic structural dimensions and institutional responses to perceived opportunism in the study of voluntary interfirm cooperation.
The dramatic growth of global strategic alliances between firms is fundamentally reshaping the nature of international business, Indeed, interfirm cooperation has become a crucial component of the pursuit of global competitive advantage. Yet such alliances are enormously complex to manage successfully, in part because of the opportunity and incentive to cheat, and profit at the partner's expense, that is an inescapable part of these relationships. Consequently, strategic alliances are frequently subject to high instability, poor performance, and premature dissolution.
Thus, an important question arises: Is it possible to promote more stable cooperation and higher alliance performance through a realignment of companies' incentives? This question is addressed empirically in the present paper using recent work in game theory, which suggests that high performance is linked to specific elements of the alliance structure. Further, this study applies insights from international business literature, suggesting that alliance partners from different countries are often characterized by sharp cultural, national, and organizational differences, to test this linkage in an international context.
The study's data strongly support the hypothesis that alliance performance is linked to alliance structure. This finding has broad implications both for managers and management scholars, in suggesting that “up front” attention to alliance structure may help arrest the high failure rates, and improve alliance stability and performance levels. However, the data also support the hypothesis that the linkage between structure and performance varies by partner nationality. This finding points to the need for: (a) systematic assessment of salient characteristics of potential international partners; (b) development of programs to effectively deal with important differences between partner firms; and (c) attention to different key alliance structure dimensions, depending upon partner nationality. Finally, this study shows game theory to provide an extremely useful perspective in understanding crucial aspects of strategic alliances, although in the analysis of cross-border strategic alliances, the perspective must be enriched by an appreciation of interfirm diversity.
Hybrid organizational arrangements, in which two or more sover- eign organizations combine to pursue common interests, raise signif- icant questions for both scholars and managers. A review of previous research yields four key issues-breadth of purpose, boundary de- termination, value creation, and stability mechanisms-that form the core of a theory of hybrid arrangements. This theory is then used tc generate researchable propositions that explore differences among types of hybrids and to offer insights for managers of hybrid organi- zations. Observers of the corporate landscape are wit- nessing an increase in the variety and complex- ity of organizational forms, many of which rep- resent strategic alliances between organiza- tions, for example, acquisitions, joint ventures, license agreements, research and development (R & D) partnerships, and so forth. These alli- ances result from strategic and operating moves by firms that have adapted to emerging oppor- tunities as well as those that are repositioning themselves within existing industrial frame- works. The hybrid arrangements represented by
A key competitive precondition for any organization involved in any of today's multinational businesses is speed and pace in implementing strategies. Although one's organization may offer superior products or services today, it may quickly lag behind its competitors if it is not adept at implementing critical decisions.
According to most economists, economic behavior is a rational undertaking. It is assumed that we know what we want, strive to get it, and accept the verdict of the market for our effort.
In this profound and provocative work, Richard Thaler challenges the received economic wisdom by revealing many of the paradoxes that abound even in the most painstakingly conducted transactions. He presents literate, challenging, and often funny examples of the various anomalies that confront and confound people in everyday economic life—such as "the winner's curse," a dynamic wherein winners become losers by miscalculating the value of a purchase made in a common value auction. He also demonstrates that markets do not always operate with the traplike efficiency we impute to them.
Thaler argues that recognizing these sometimes topsy-turvy facts of economic behavior will compel economists, as well as those who live by their lights in our jobs and organizations, to adopt a more balanced view of human nature, one reflected in Adam Smith's professed belief that despite our selfishness, there is something within our natures that prompts us to enjoy, even promote, the happiness of others. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This paper reviews the literature on organizational learning. Organizational learning is viewed as routine-based, history-dependent, and target-oriented. Organizations are seen as learning by encoding inferences from history into routines that guide behavior. Within this perspective on organizational learning, topics covered include how organizations learn from direct experience, how organizations learn from the experience of others, and how organizations develop conceptual frameworks or paradigms for interpreting that experience. The section on organizational memory discusses how organizations encode, store, and retrieve the lessons of history despite the turnover of personnel and the passage of time. Organizational learning is further complicated by the ecological structure of the simultaneously adapting behavior of other organizations, and by an endogenously changing environment. The final section discusses the limitations as well as the possibilities of organizational learning as a form of intelligence.
No theory or model of organizational learning has widespread acceptance. This paper clarifies the distinction between organizational learning and organizational adaptation and shows that change does not necessarily imply learning. There are different levels of learning, each having a different impact on the strategic management of the firm.
Interfirm relationship networks are strategic resources that can potentially be shaped by managerial action. As a first step towards understanding how managers can shape networks, we develop a framework which explains how industry networks evolve over time and in response to specific events. Our main thesis is that industry events may be either structure-reinforcing or structure-loosening, and that their potential structural impact may be predicted in advance. We validate our hypotheses with longitudinal data on the strategic alliance network in the global steel industry. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
We analyze the genealogical structure of large Japanese firms, with particular emphasis on the relationship between parent firms and spinoff subsidiaries. The wide use of spinoffs and subsidiaries in Japan provides for flexible organizational mutations that appear to facilitate increased competitiveness and offer the opportunity to obtain benefits through a deliberate separation of core competencies. We discuss a conceptual framework for the spinoff arrangement, the results of an exploratory empirical analysis of the relationship between parent and subsidiary organizations, and implications of the use of this organizational structure. We suggest the importance of a consideration of the genealogical aspects of large Japanese firms in strategy research.