Alliance contractual design

Our purpose in this paper is to provide an overview of what we know about alliance contracts. After a short introduction to the contents of alliance contracts, we start by contrasting alliance contractual form and governance form. Next, we focus on two related constructs: contractual complexity and contractual completeness. We suggest that contractual complexity is a more adequate construct to investigate in the absence of information about the transaction contemplated in the contract. After that, we present the measures of contractual complexity used in past studies. Then, we go over the determinants of contractual complexity by considering their influence on contracting costs and benefits given environmental and behavioral uncertainty. Conclusions and suggestions for research are offered at the end.alliance contracts; collaborative relationships; contractual complexity; strategic alliances; cooperation; joint ventures;

Contractual heterogeneity in strategic alliances.

We investigate firms' alliance design choices by examining alliances as multifaceted contractual forms. The analysis explores the contractual heterogeneity underlying alternative governance structures for alliances, the bundling of different contractual provisions, and the dimensionality of the contractual completeness construct. The empirical evidence indicates that the complexity of collaborative agreements ­in terms of the number and stringency of provisions­ is greater for alliances that are strategically important and that involve high levels of asset specificity. Factor analysis of tetrachoric correlations among eight contractual provisions reveals two distinct dimensions of contractual completeness. Partners with prior collaborative relationships tend to institute fewer contractual provisions for monitoring and control of an alliance. Relative to open-ended contractual agreements, time-bound alliances tend to rely less heavily on such provisions, but more so on safeguards concerning confidential and proprietary information, alliance termination, and the adjudication of disputes by third parties.alliance design; governance structures; collaborative agreements; alliance termination;

Governance changes in strategic alliances: Antecedents of contractual renegotiations

This study provides an empirical investigation of the incidence and antecedents of contractual renegotiations in strategic alliances. We bring together initial conditions based on transaction cost theory and ex post contingencies highlighted by recent conceptual and qualitative research on the evolution of collaborative agreements. The results indicate that firms tend to change the governance of alliances when a misalignment exists between the chosen structure and features of the transaction. Further, we find that asset specificity affects alliance design as well as post-formation governance decisions. Contractual alterations are more likely in the presence of strategic change and when firms employ less extensive ex post deterrents in their alliances. We find no evidence that cross-border ventures are any more or less likely to experience contractual renegotiations than domestic alliances.Strategic alliances; renegotiation

Alliance dynamics for entrepreneurial firms

Small firms are thought to encounter various difficulties implementing strategic alliances. Due to these problems, they may be less able to reap the benefits of alliance adaptation, and the changes that occur in alliances over time often will not coincide with the small firm's interests. The evidence we present on contractual renegotiations in alliances suggests that small firms are no more or less likely to experience contractual changes in general. However, small firms tend to bear inefficiencies of two kinds in their collaborations. They are less likely to adapt alliances in the presence of governance misalignments. Furthermore, they are prone to make greater transaction-specific investments without commensurate contractual safeguards, which can lead to ex post hold-up in the form of contractual renegotiations.strategic alliances; entrepreneurial firms; small firms; contractual renegotiation; governance misalignment;

Entrepreneurial alliances as contractual forms

Building upon taxonomical research on interfirm alliances, we investigate the design of entrepreneurial firms' alliances in more fine-grained terms by focusing on the specific contractual provisions that firms put into their alliance contracts. Drawing upon transaction cost arguments, we examine the determinants of the contractual complexity of collaborative agreements in the German telecommunications industry. Further, in order to separate contractual form and governance structure and to compare their antecedents, we also examine factors influencing the choices firms make between equity and non-equity arrangements.entrepreneurial alliances; alliance contracts; contract negotiations; telecommunications industry;

Interoperability and Standards: The Way for Innovative Design in Networked Working Environments

Organised by: Cranfield UniversityIn today’s networked economy, strategic business partnerships and outsourcing has become the dominant paradigm where companies focus on core competencies and skills, as creative design, manufacturing, or selling. However, achieving seamless interoperability is an ongoing challenge these networks are facing, due to their distributed and heterogeneous nature. Part of the solution relies on adoption of standards for design and product data representation, but for sectors predominantly characterized by SMEs, such as the furniture sector, implementations need to be tailored to reduce costs. This paper recommends a set of best practices for the fast adoption of the ISO funStep standard modules and presents a framework that enables the usage of visualization data as a way to reduce costs in manufacturing and electronic catalogue design.Mori Seiki – The Machine Tool Compan

A relational approach to local immigrant policy-making: collaboration with immigrant advocacy bodies in French and German cities

The role of immigrant advocacy bodies in collaborative policy–making in cities isso far insufficiently researched. This article investigates the ties between relevanturban actors and immigrant advocacy bodies in cities in two Western Europeancountries. We draw on an original survey in forty French and German cities aswell asfieldwork in one French and one German city to analyze whetherurban actors from a variety of policy sectors and domains of societycooperate with immigrant councils and immigrant associations, and whichfactors explain such collaboration. Counter to the existing literature on therole of intermediaries between municipalities and immigrant populations, wefind a widespread existence of ties with immigrant advocacy bodies. However,such ties are not mainstreamed. Instead, collaboration is most present amongactors in charge of immigrant affairs, and when actors meet in policy fora thatallow interaction between urban actors and immigrant advocacy bodies

Africa : the new frontier for global strategy scholars

Context matters in the global strategy literature. We discuss how Africa, as a setting that received limited attention in the past, offers opportunity to challenge existing theory, and develop new insights. The overall goal is to ask: What will the field of global strategic management look like once we have engaged with Africa in a similar manner as we have done with other emerging economies? We also introduce the papers published in this special issue and highlight directions for future research