Better together? How evolution of co-branding alliance affects performance
Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing
ISSN: 0885-8624
Article publication date: 24 November 2022
Issue publication date: 3 August 2023
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine role stress over the course of an alliance between supply chains. This study examines ambiguity as antecedent to multiple organisational outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
This study subsequently uses a time series design that uses a close replication of the authors’ initial study. The design affords the opportunity to examine the dynamics associated with the evolution of the alliance.
Findings
This study recognises that the relationships developed by collaborating firms are enacted by downstream entrepreneurs in the supply chain, yet this observation is rarely incorporated into interfirm research. The authors illustrate that the alliances have a significant downstream influence on operations at the retail level.
Research limitations/implications
This longitudinal research has the potential to reduce common method variance and enhance causal inference. The second limitation concerns the simultaneous collection of the predictor and criterion variables. The third limitation is the use of single informants as the primary vehicle for the analysis of the theoretical model when prior research indicates that multiple informants offer enhanced reliability and validity.
Practical implications
The findings contribute to the management theory of business entrepreneurship and strategic alliances and research on supply chains.
Originality/value
This study underscores the need to examine alliances via time series. Research that attempts to generalise from data collected at a single point in time is unlikely to be able to capture the dynamics associated with the development of a joint venture and offers limited opportunity to make inferences about the causal order of relationships. The model based on longitudinal data reveals that the stage of an alliance influences the level of vertical control and ambiguity and the effect of control on role ambiguity.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors are listed at random as both contributed equally to the development of this article. The U.S.-Norway Fulbright Foundation and the SUPTEK-program (Norwegian Research Council) provided funding for this study. The Norwegian Business School provided financial support for this project. In addition, Robert Dahlstrom received a fellowship from the U.S. Norway Fulbright Foundation that facilitated completion of this research in Oslo, Norway. Olav Haraldseid and his colleagues at Statoil (Equinor) are commended for their cooperation with the authors throughout the seven-year analysis of this strategic alliance. The authors also appreciate the data collection efforts of Vegard Gjeislid, Per Atle Gran, Anders Vaagan, Helena M. Persson, Kristian Wikre, Jan Magnus Eriksen, Lars-Martin Holm, Hans-Arne Thorsdal, Elin Westvik, and Christel Dahl Andersen.
Citation
Nygaard, A. and Dahlstrom, R. (2023), "Better together? How evolution of co-branding alliance affects performance", Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Vol. 38 No. 9, pp. 1899-1910. https://doi.org/10.1108/JBIM-07-2022-0304
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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