Search results

While the number of global alliance terminations in the business world has grown steadily during the past few decades, the scholarly literature on strategic alliance (SA) termination remains limited. This research paper aims to perform a bibliometric analysis of the literature on alliance termination and propose a model for future research agenda that links the termination phase to the pre-alliance termination phase and post alliance termination phase.

A search query on global alliance termination identified a total of 69 research papers from the Scopus database, and a bibliometric analysis was performed using the bibliometrix R-package and VOSviewer. The analysis further used the TCCM framework to review the set of papers.

This research analysis reveals that, compared to the pre-formation, formation, and process stages of alliances, limited research has been undertaken on global alliance termination. The bibliometric analysis and TCCM framework provide a complete view of the extant literature on global alliance termination from different dimensions and act as the which as the foundation for a developing the research agenda that links pre-alliance termination phase and post-alliance termination phase to that of alliance termination phase.

The proposed research agenda is unique as it integrates multiple phases in the alliance lifecycle with global alliance termination phase and develops a distinct view for future research that emphasizes on the post-alliance termination phase.

The bibliometric analysis provides a precise snapshot of the state of the literature on global alliance termination. The research agenda developed provides a direction for further academic research that links alliance termination not only to pre-alliance termination phase but also to the post-alliance termination phase that is nascently explored in the literature.

This study is among the few to review and synthesize the literature on global alliance termination. It, therefore, functions as a catalyst to draw global scholars' attention. Further, it provides global researchers with direction by proposing a global research agenda.

The purpose of this study is to examine the existing literature and evaluate the theories, characteristics, context and methods of alliance termination research published from 1992 to 2019. This study also aims to identify the gaps in the literature and recognize directions for future research focusing on alliance termination research.

The main research methods followed in this study are bibliometric review, citation analysis, co-citation analysis and cluster analysis.

The main findings of this study are the most cited articles, most productive journals and most productive countries. The results show that a total of 100 research articles were published between 1992 and 2019. The maximum number of publications were observed during 2011–2019. The article “Knowledge, bargaining power, and the instability of international joint ventures” (Inkpen and Beamish, 1997) was the most cited article and the “Academy of Management Review” was the most prominent journal, with 847 citations. The USA, France, the UK, Singapore and Canada are the most productive countries. The study also includes the analysis of the network of co-citation of references and co-occurrence of keywords in the context of alliance termination research.

To the best of authors’ knowledge, this study seems to be the first to perform bibliometric review and analysis in the area of alliance termination research. Therefore, it can help academicians and practitioners to identify the research trends and gaps in the alliance termination literature on which future research can be performed. Overall, this research paper leads to a better understanding of the alliance termination research and offers new insights into strategic management studies.

We propose that in addition to its resources and capabilities, a firm’s capital structure and financial health will act as an important determinant of its attractiveness as an alliance partner. Alliances with leveraged firms are prone to unplanned termination due to financial distress, which puts at risk the value embedded in the collaboration. As a result, ceteris paribus, highly leveraged firms will be viewed as less desirable partners in the market for interfirm collaboration when compared to low leverage firms. In support of this proposition, we find that when forming an alliance firms tend to partner with other firms with similar levels of leverage: low-leverage firms partner with other low-leverage firms while high-leverage firms partner with other high-leverage firms, as well as with lower quality ones. Furthermore, we show that alliances with highly leveraged firms are more likely to involve equity participation as a form of ex post protection, especially when they involve partners with relatively lower leverage. Finally, we show that leverage is negatively related to the intensity of alliance activity, suggesting that firms also maintain lower leverage in their capital structure in order to attract potential partners. Overall our results imply that financial policies regarding capital structure have an important role to play in alliancing activity.

While earlier research discussed networking and alliance strategies of born globals on a strategic level, this paper investigates and analyses the specific organizational skills that enable the firms to successfully initiate, manage and finish their R&D alliances with Multinational Enterprises (MNEs). It is discussed how the specific aspects of the alliance capability can help born globals to counteract the challenges and risks of collaborating with MNEs. A longitudinal process study of a Danish technology born global with three embedded cases of its R&D and marketing alliances with Asian MNEs is discussed. The organizational skills comprising the alliance capability are defined to be internal and external assessment skills, need detection and coupling skills, asset protection skills, project management skills, termination skills and the learning processes to build the alliance capability further. A set of propositions is developed to tie these organizational skills to alliance performance.

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.

Firms frequently need to update their capabilities in changing environments but face significant barriers to accomplish this goal due to the stickiness of their routines, local search constraints, bounded rationality, uncertain imitability, and causal ambiguity. Under high levels of uncertainty, dynamic capabilities are often externally oriented, involving acquisitions and alliances. However, nonunique but competitive predictions about the behavior of these capabilities arise from the evolutionary theory. We test these competitive hypotheses analyzing portfolios of acquisitions and alliances made by pharmaceutical firms in search of portfolios of biotech capabilities. The analysis of portfolios enables us to better identify “common practices” in the pharmaceutical industry than using a transactional‐level focus. We develop implications for the evolutionary theory and for managerial practice.

Strategic alliances involve uncertainty, interdependence, and vulnerability, which often create adverse situations. This paper seeks to understand how alliance managers respond to these adverse situations by examining the influence of four exchange variables on response strategies.

A scenario‐based experiment provides empirical support for a typology consisting of seven conceptually and empirically distinct response strategies: exit, opportunism, aggressive voice, creative voice, considerate voice, patience, and neglect.

The results indicate that economic satisfaction, social satisfaction, alliance‐specific investments, and the availability of attractive alternatives differentially and interactively affect response strategies.

The study offers two main contributions to alliance literature. First, the seven response strategies accurately represent reactions that alliance managers use to deal with adverse situations. Second, the study findings validate and extend previous alliance research by highlighting that a comprehensive response strategy typology is necessary to disentangle the effects of the four exchange conditions on response strategy use, which fosters theory development and managers' ability to manage their alliances effectively.

The study contributes to the process perspective on strategic alliances by highlighting the various response strategies that alliance managers use to deal with adverse situations and their antecedents.

The aims of this paper are: to argue the role of Kelley's personal relationship theory (PRT) in explaining the maintenance and success of alliance outcomes; to argue the inclusion of communication between supply chain partners as a major component of relationship capital in addition to trust and commitment; to test the impact of interdependence between supply chain partners on strategic alliance outcomes; and to test the role of relationship capital as a mediating construct between interdependence.

A questionnaire was constructed and sent to 2,156 supply chain managers in Malaysia. The questionnaire captured three constructs: interdependence – task, goal and reward; relationship capital – trust, commitment, and communication; and strategic alliance outcomes – goal, value‐creation, and re‐evaluation. The companies were selected randomly from the Federation of Malaysian Manaufacturers (FMM) directory. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the hypotheses.

The major findings are: communication must be included as a major component of relationship capital in addition to trust and commitment; Kelley's PRT plays a prominent role in explaining the maintenance and success of strategic alliance outcomes; interdependence has a significant relationship with relationship capital; relationship capital has a significant relationship with strategic alliance outcomes; and relationship capital acts as a pure mediator between interdependence and strategic alliance outcomes.

This research contributes significantly to the theoretical and empirical developments that enrich the strategic alliance literature.

This study aims to find, analyse and synthesise the body of literature on how different health-care businesses form business-to-business (B2B) alliances. By doing so, this study seeks to identify visible research gaps to suggest future research questions and develop a conceptual framework to set a future research agenda.

The study uses the time-tested systematic literature review method to identify 57 studies that have addressed B2B relationships in the health-care industry. Thereafter, a qualitative analysis is performed to delineate the research profile and synthesise the key themes examined in the selected studies.

The qualitative analysis uncovers two key thematic foci: types and purposes of B2B relationships and pertinent issues in continued B2B relationships. Within these themes, the authors highlight different types of firms and their reasons for engaging in B2B relationships. The authors also summarise various issues that these firms deal with in such relationships. Finally, the authors highlight the limitations in the existing research and suggest future research questions to address them. The findings are summarised in a conceptual framework.

Although several reviews exist that evaluate the state-of-the-art research on B2B relationships, very few have examined the same in the context of health care. This review adds value to the research by providing a comprehensive overview of the existing findings in the area to encourage future research through a conceptual framework.

Although existing partial theories contribute to scholarly understanding of strategic alliances, the lack of a comprehensive framework to explain strategic alliances is unfortunate. The purpose of this paper is to develop an integrated framework for maker‐buyer strategic alliance performance.

Drawing on the concept of embeddedness developed by Granovetter, this paper argues that maker‐buyer alliances are economic actions intended to pursue synergies; meanwhile, these economic actions are embedded in social contexts.

This paper argues that the economic goal of firms entering alliances is to combine their complementary resources to create synergies. To achieve this goal, managers must efficiently manage the economic problems associated with such alliances, including searching for partners with complementary resources, allocating value‐added activities correctly, establishing efficient interorganizational routines, and introducing proper governance structures. Furthermore, alliances are embedded in their social contexts. Firms are constrained by their specific social environments and behave accordingly, impacting their performance. It is difficult for firms to modify the contexts in which they are embedded without strong strategic intent. The social contexts in which firms are embedded may also be sources of sustainable competitive advantage or disadvantage.

Several managerial implications and future research directions are presented.

This study, by integrating economic and sociological theories into a framework and focusing on maker‐buyer alliances, depicts not only the full picture but also the necessary details of maker‐buyer alliances for scholars and practical managers.