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The aim of this study is to provide a methodical, analytical, and focused review of international strategic alliance (ISA) studies examining empirically behavioral attributes' performance outcomes.

This study centers on an integrative analysis of 41 studies investigating the performance relevance of behavioral attributes. After developing a conceptual framework, which included two categories of these attributes – relationship capital (i.e. trust and commitment) and exchange climate (i.e. cooperation, communication, and conflict reduction) – the methodologies of the studies were profiled and their empirical findings aggregated. The accumulated effect of each behavioral attribute on performance and extent to which this effect varies in relation to ISA geographic location and type and study operating period was examined.

The review suggests that while there are direct links between behavioral aspects and alliance performance, the strength of these varies across the two categories. Of the relationship capital and exchange climate aspects, commitment and cooperation, respectively, prove most consistently positively linked to performance. Still, the results for all the behavioral attributes appear more consistent when taking the study context into consideration.

Empirical research on behavioral attributes' links to alliance performance is still at an early stage of development and assertions concerning relationship management offering the key to ISA success are somewhat premature. Improvements need to be made in terms of conceptualizations, research designs, and analytical techniques used if the field is to build concrete theory on the subject.

It would appear that the behavioral paradigm can be relied on to pay‐off in alliances involving only DC partner firms and/or a cooperative agreement structure, but should be applied more cautiously and selectively in LDC‐DC and/or formal joint venture partnerships.

This is the first review exercise focused on providing fine‐grained insights covering the complexity of the burgeoning literature on the behavioral paradigm's performance relevance in ISAs.

The purpose of this study is to develop and test a theoretical model of international strategic alliance (ISA) relationship development underpinned by the foreign investment decision process.

The conceptual model demonstrates an ISA investment decision process consisting of three ex ante formation aspects – parent firm top management's general attitude towards alliances, scope of parent's cooperation analysis for the focal alliance, and interfirm collaborative history – and two key ex post relational outcomes – parent's willingness to invest in the alliance business and satisfaction with the relationship. The theoretical propositions were tested among a sample of 94 ISAs using structural equation modelling.

The results show that top management attitude towards alliances is negatively associated with scope of cooperation analysis, but only where collaborative history exists. Scope of cooperation analysis, in turn, positively influences willingness to invest. And together these factors exert a positive influence on relationship satisfaction.

The ISA literature has devoted significant attention to partner characteristics important in venture formation, as well as to post‐formation partnership management issues. However, there is a dearth of empirical research explaining the role of venture formation aspects in influencing ISA relationship development and success. The study adds to the limited empirical research work on the role of venture formation aspects in influencing ISA relationship development and success. It provides new and detailed insights for business practitioners and academic researchers concerning the behavioural, decision process underlying ISA partnership progression.

The purpose of this paper is to explain the culture‐driven role and effects of social capital in Japanese‐Western alliances. The authors move beyond narrow conceptualizations of relationship bonding (i.e. positive socio‐psychological aspects such as trust and commitment) to explore the broader role of social capital (e.g. in destructive act recovery processes) in such alliances.

The conceptual paper adopts a theory development approach.

The authors advance a process model and propositions that explain the way social capital networks and processes influence relationship‐based contracting and performance outcomes in alliances with the Japanese.

The study assists international marketers in their efforts to overcome cultural barriers to success in Japanese‐Western alliance relationships.

It can be argued that erosion of Japanese business culture potentially clouds the picture for implementing governance through social capital. The study furnishes managers with an understanding of how to take the cultural context of the partnership into account to build appropriate and productive social capital with Japanese partners.

The study is novel in addressing the issue of how to implement relational bonding mechanisms in complex cultural situations. As a result of cultural erosion, different types of Japanese partner, eroded versus traditional, may require different alliance screening and management strategies.

The “Sales Orientation‐Customer Orientation (SOCO)” scale, is a popular and insightful measure used for determining the degree to which salespeople have a long‐term‐oriented, customer‐focused selling approach. Endeavours to investigate applicability of the SOCO scale in the context of the pharmaceutical industry’s salesperson‐general practitioner relationship. Found that the SOCO scale possesses reliability. Furthermore, discovers a significant rift between a salesperson’s perception of his/her orientation and their customer’s perception of his/her particular orientation.

To investigate the state of the international marketing literature in terms of its ability to offer managers with fine‐grained insights into marketing strategy effectiveness.

Conceptual study based on insights into advances in international marketing research.

Contingency accounts of strategy effectiveness are persuasive in the international marketing literature. But areas of research (e.g. the trust‐performance literature) have been slow to identify and discuss contingencies inherent in foreign marketplace ventures.

Practitioners would be advised to consider the degree to which empirical research on international marketing strategy accounts for contextual complexity. Scholarly research should cover not only “whether” an international marketing strategy is productive, but crucially “when” the strategy is productive.

Suggests different areas of international marketing research are at different stages of theoretical development. Usefulness of academic findings may be linked to the level of development of the contingency framework within an international marketing stream.

While the effect of communication apprehension on a multitude of psychological and performance variables has been studied in many other disciplines, it has not been extensively examined by sales researchers. This article considers communication in the sales transaction from the perspective of communication apprehension, and investigates the role of communication apprehension as an indicator of a salesperson’s performance. Using ordinal logistic regression, an attempt is made to predict a salesperson’s performance based on the four contexts of communication apprehension, in a multicultural sample. The results show a small but significant effect of communication apprehension on the performance of salespersons, and some contexts of communication apprehension are found to be better predictors than others. The findings also indicate that the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension‐24 scale is valid and reliable when used to establish international principles.

Over the past 15 years, firms have entered increasingly into international strategic alliances, often with a partner firm in the same business in order to accelerate market growth. However, limited empirical attention has been devoted to this alternative means of organizing international marketing strategy. The purpose of this case study of the pan‐European BP‐Mobil collaboration is to provide readers interested in international co‐marketing alliances with insights into organizational problems and likely success impediments germane to these business entities. In this context, the extent to which the singular BP‐Mobil experience complies with criteria underpinned by the two important perspectives on the effectiveness of these phenomena, namely, symbiotic marketing and inter‐organizational exchange behavior, is examined. With BP‐Mobil already showing strong signs of success, certain important lessons can be learned by business practitioners.

There is concern that academic research in marketing does not sufficiently support firms confronting today's hostile business conditions. This paper offers a perspective on enhancing the relevance and rigour of research in marketing. It takes the view that rigorous research conducted on issues relevant to practising managers is especially valuable for the marketing discipline's future development and status. Emphasis is placed on identifying a number of “hot” topics worthy of future investigation, accomplished by a brainstorming workshop involving a large number of distinguished marketing professors. Areas identified were global marketing strategy, consumer behaviour and marketing strategy. It is hoped that the identification and discussion of these topics will spark greater research on fundamental marketing issues, and that the allied explication of research rigour will likewise enhance the efficacy of research in marketing.

Reviews the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

How do Japanese firms react when their alliance partner does something to damage the relationship? Well the answer has to be, “it depends.” Traditional business culture in Japan meets collective action problems with sympathy, just as a Japanese mother would respond to a child's bad behavior by expressing sadness, rather than telling them off. But many Japanese firms have been exposed to Western management styles and a different view of social capital. Where they might try to resolve issues caused by another Japanese company, inappropriate behavior by a Western alliance partner may result in the Japanese firm threatening to leave.

Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.

Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that can have a broader social impact.

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy‐to‐digest format.