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This paper has a threefold purpose. First, we offer a literature review on alliance capability based on strategic and competence-based management literature. Second, we extend existing literature on alliance capability by breaking this concept down into five subcapabilities, each of which is linked to a stage of the alliance life cycle. Finally, we suggest how firms can support these capabilities through structural, technological, and people-related tools and techniques. We argue that current literature has focused mainly on organization-wide characteristics, the general alliance function, and alliance experience to explain the level of alliance capability. Although we acknowledge the importance of these elements, we stress that more attention needs to be given to the various stage-specific components, actions, and supportive mechanisms that can result in an improved alliance capability.

Building on the complementarity nature of extant dyadic and portfolio level alliance research, this paper discusses the role of alliance capability and relational quality as antecedents of alliance performance. Although prior research focused extensively on the influence of dyadic issues on alliance performance, more recent studies focus on firm-level capabilities to manage sets of alliances. We specify an integrated framework that merges these two previously separated streams of research and discuss how firm-level alliance capabilities affect dyadic level relational quality. The framework suggests that relational quality mediates between both alliance capability and alliance performance and provides a detailed discussion on how firm-level mechanisms improve the quality of dyadic relationships. We also discuss implications and options for future research.

By reviewing the literature, this paper explores the current priorities and future directions of alliance post-formation dynamics research.

This paper collects and analyzes empirical studies on alliance post-formation dynamics that were published between 1990 and 2021.

Current research on alliance post-formation dynamics can be structured as antecedents and outcomes of dynamics and their moderating effects. Among these topics, antecedents of dynamics have been addressed in a large body of research encompassing diverse theoretical mechanisms and levels of analysis. However, there remain debates regarding the outcomes of alliances post-formation dynamics.

First, this paper enriches the theoretical plurality of the field by integrating the antecedents and outcomes of dynamics and their moderating effects. Second, this paper proposes a new scholarly perspective – “alliance dynamic capabilities” – to address the “disruption vs adaption” debates regarding the outcomes of alliance post-formation dynamics in current research. Third, this paper presents several promising future research directions with the aim to advancing the literature on alliance post-formation dynamics.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework and propositions on a capability-based view that examine the role of a firm’s primary type of alliances, i.e., exploration or exploitation, in the determinants and impact of alliance portfolio capability.

This is a conceptual research paper, which builds on prior conceptual and empirical management research.

Regarding determinants, capability-based arguments indicate that firms with an emphasis on exploration alliances have higher levels of alliance portfolio capability. However, a focus on exploration alliances aggravates the development of alliance portfolio capability through alliance experience and a dedicated alliance function. Regarding impact, alliance portfolio capability may positively affect a firm’s alliance, innovation, and financial performance. While alliance portfolio capability is assumed to have an equally positive effect on alliance performance for all types of alliance portfolios, a relative focus on exploration alliances is expected to limit the positive effects of alliance portfolio capability on innovation and subsequent financial performance.

These new conceptual arguments help to reconcile inconsistent earlier findings, and they deepen the understanding of interfirm differences in alliance portfolio capability and performance.

Despite the rising interest in eco-innovation, few studies have examined how open innovation (OI) actually increases eco-innovation performance. Drawing on capabilities theory, this study aims to investigate how two specific organizational capabilities (alliance management capability and absorptive capacity) individually complement OI strategies (inbound and outbound) to increase eco-innovation performance, while taking into consideration high and low levels of environmental uncertainty.

To test the hypotheses, the authors used a primary survey and secondary proxy data sources from 232 Taiwan-based manufacturing firms. The authors collected survey data for measuring OI strategies, followed by secondary proxy data for measuring alliance management capability, absorptive capacity, environmental uncertainty and eco-innovation performance.

The results indicate that in highly dynamic environments, alliance management capability complements inbound/outbound strategies to increase eco-innovation performance. However, absorptive capacity complements only inbound strategies, not outbound strategies.

These findings have important implications for managers attempting to increase eco-innovation performance by using OI in dynamic environments.

The findings provide new evidence that configurations of OI alone are not enough for increasing eco-innovation performance. Instead, firms’ eco-innovation benefits more when OI are complemented by alliance management capability.

This study makes an original contribution to the eco-innovation literature by demonstrating how organizational capabilities complement OI to increase eco-innovation performance in dynamic environments.

Organizations need to find ways to survive in unpredictable, dynamic and rapidly changing environments. The development of organizational capabilities, such as relational, is a dynamic process of adaptation, which seeks to adjust to an unstable environment. Within this context, the purpose of this paper is to analyze, through a systematic review (SR), 36 articles, which discuss the influence of strategic alliances on the dynamic capabilities (DCs) process.

Through this systematic literature review, articles published in international journals were categorized in terms of their objectives, thematic axes and the research methodologies applied and evidences, to explore their methodological, theoretical and organizational practice contributions.

The results clarified the antecedents, implications and relevance of the relationship between strategic alliances in different countries and their DCs. The findings make it possible to determine directions for new studies that may support the advancement of this field of research.

Studies from this SR point out that alliance is: a flexible vehicle of learning; a way to transfer effective knowledge in partner firms and to generate combinations of resources; and a superior means of access to technological capabilities and other complex capabilities. Those aspects would be difficult to be developed in the firms without the help of partnerships. This can encourage the reconfiguration of existing resources and capabilities. These reconfigurations can lead to deliberate evolutionary adaptations in these firms, which will build relational DCs.

As managerial implications, an alliance allows for the development of capabilities to detect new opportunities, and for the development of the reconfiguration or expansion of the existing resource base in the firm. Thus, alliances, once properly managed and with well-defined structure and purpose, can help firms achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. Alliances can serve as a type of strategic choice or an alternative that can enable companies to cope with unstable, global and competitive environments permeated by (new) threats and opportunities.

This SR paper highlighted, in a specific and consistent topic, the suggestions for future research related to the process of DCs and its relationship with strategic alliances, motivating new research works.

Extant literature has looked at the effect of alliance capability and organizational culture on alliance portfolio performance, but the relationship between the two has not been explored. The purpose of this paper is to explore the hypothesis that an alliance supportive culture is not only fostered by a firm’s alliance capabilities, but that it mediates the relationship between capabilities and performance.

Survey responses from 190 alliance managers, collected using a two-stage process, were analyzed to investigate the interrelationship of firm-level alliance capability, alliance supportive culture and portfolio performance.

Alliance supportive culture was found to mediate the relationship between alliance capability and alliance portfolio performance. This finding suggests that in order to effectively manage a firm’s portfolio of alliances, the benefits of alliance capability must be transferred broadly into the organization’s cultural orientation toward alliances.

Further research may extend this analysis to explore the effect of subcomponents of alliance capability and alliance culture to better understand fine-grained influences on alliance performance. The findings of this study also may be extended to inform how supportive culture orientation affects partner selection, negotiation and time to performance.

Managers should utilize culture-building actions as a way of extending the value of their firms’ alliance capabilities in order to improve their effectiveness across the portfolio.

Extant studies have considered the discrete effects of capability and cultural orientation on alliance portfolio success, but the mediation effect has not previously been investigated. The findings also identify a boundary condition for the benefit of alliance capabilities on portfolio performance.

The challenge of unforeseen uncertainties in exploratory projects requires the lead firm in a project alliance to effectively manage exploratory co-innovation. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the types of capabilities a lead firm required in exploratory projects and how these capabilities enable the exploratory innovation of the project alliance.

A multiple-case study was done to provide empirical evidence for the rationale of the capabilities of the lead firm. The provided analysis used abductive reasoning of two typical exploratory projects in China.

This paper identifies two types of capabilities: innovation-related capabilities and network-related capabilities. Furthermore, a process model of the capabilities of the lead firm is developed that enables exploratory co-innovation in a project alliance. The capabilities of the lead firm input varied at four different stages.

Innovation-related capabilities and network-related capabilities could form the foundation for the lead firm in an exploratory project alliance. This will enable an exploratory co-innovation and collaboratively overcome the barriers of exploratory projects.

Although exploratory project attracts extensive attention for its unique characteristics and universal value, there is limited amount of research on the context of joint exploratory projects. This study starts from the role of lead firm in an exploratory project alliance, contributes toward the comprehension of the link between the lead firm’s capabilities and the process of exploratory co-innovation. The findings will be of value in supporting the management of exploratory innovation in a project alliance.

The purpose of this paper is to explore and unbundle the complex processes underpinning development of alliance capabilities, particularly in the context of emerging country multinational enterprises. More specifically, this paper focuses on how firms internalize and translate knowledge generated from experiences gained by participating in international collaborations.

The authors adopt an exploratory case study approach to undertake in-depth processual analysis of alliance capability development in an Indian biopharmaceutical company. The authors focused their analysis on the initial four international alliances the company formed and identified key elements pertaining to alliance capabilities that the company internalized and those that it could not, as this was key in understanding alliance capability.

The research shows that based on experiences from previous alliances, the Indian organization was able to overhaul its negotiation and governance designing processes and practices as well as made robust changes to its internal communication and coordination practices. Interestingly, the company organization, however, did not make any significant changes to its processes and practices regarding partner selection.

The results from our study can be used by managers to develop processes and practices when it comes to developing alliance capabilities.

The paper is novel, as it addresses two specific gaps in the nascent alliance capability literature. First, it provides insights on how different constituent elements/aspects of alliance capability actually develop and integrate within the organizational system over time, and in the process, the paper identifies that some aspects are better internalized as compared to other aspects. Second, by focusing the attention on an Indian biopharmaceutical company, the authors attempt to address a gap in alliance capability development research, which has been neglected in emerging country multinational entities.

This study aims to analyze the moderating role of a firm’s alliance learning capability. The aim is to investigate the comparative performance of developing exploitation (or exploration) activities in collaboration with others vs adopting a go-it-alone posture.

The authors compare high levels of co-exploitation (or co-exploration) that represent the collaboration stance vs low levels of co-exploitation (or co-exploration) that characterize the go-it-alone posture. Data were collected using a sample of 262 manufacturing firms that developed exploitation-based innovations and 239 exploration-based innovations. Regression models were used to test the hypotheses.

Empirical results suggest that the best performance is reached by firms that exploit or explore collaborating with others at high levels of alliance learning capability. In contrast, firms perform better by going alone in exploitation activities at low levels of alliance learning capability.

Firms may complement internal efforts of exploitation or exploration by co-developing knowledge with other organizations for higher performance. However, collaborating with others is not free of drawbacks, and, under certain circumstances, the go-it-alone strategy is more convenient.

This paper provides evidence of the role of a firm’s alliance learning capability in determining the differential performance of carrying on exploitation or exploration activities in collaboration with others vs adopting a go-it-alone stance. Thus, it offers an alternative perspective in the literature on organizational learning and innovation management, in contrast with the exploitation and exploration balanced perspective of ambidexterity, by explaining how alliance learning capability fosters firm performance combining exploitation or exploration at organizational and inter-organizational levels.