The influence of desire for control on monitoring decisions and performance outcomes in strategic alliances

Strategic alliances are fraught with risks, such as the uncontrolled disclosure of core knowledge via opportunistic learning. The usefulness of monitoring in policing opportunism notwithstanding, a contrasting view is that monitoring mechanisms can themselves manifest the dark side of strategic alliances. The present study argues that a novel dark personality trait—the focal firm's desire for control—may influence key decisions pertaining to how to monitor strategic alliances, which in turn can negatively impact performance outcomes. Our conceptual model was developed and tested, based on a survey of 404 strategic alliances. The results demonstrate that a focal firm's desire for control is positively associated with process monitoring as well as output monitoring. The firm's use of process monitoring to oversee the counterpart drives its performance outcomes only if there is a low level of information exchange between the alliance partners; as such, information exchange norms substitute for process monitoring. By contrast, the focal firm's use of outcome monitoring is negatively linked to performance unless complemented by a high level of information exchange. Key implications for alliance management and future research are derived from the findings

Machiavellianism in alliance partnerships

Against a backdrop of limited research focusing on dark-side characteristics in alliances, the authors argue that Machiavellianism in the alliance influences strategies pertaining to learning new knowledge and using power to achieve better performance effectiveness. They develop a model using theories-in-use procedures and drawing from both Machiavellian intelligence and achievement goal perspectives, which they test in a quasi-longitudinal study of 199 marketing alliances. The results suggest that Machiavellianism relates negatively to collaborative learning and positively to learning anxiety and use of power. The findings also indicate that collaborative learning enhances performance while learning anxiety and use of power result in underperformance. Collaborative learning, learning anxiety, and use of power fully mediate Machiavellianism’s impact on performance. Finally, Machiavellianism’s relationships with collaborative learning and learning anxiety are moderated positively and negatively, respectively, by partners’ collaborative history. This evidence provides managers with a more in-depth understanding about the nature, functioning, and performance relevance of Machiavellianism in alliance partnerships

Integrative assessment of exporting research articles in business journals during the period 1960-2007

The manuscript reports on an integrative assessment of exporting research published in 821 academic articles during the period 1960-2007. Such an undertaking is deemed necessary due to the voluminous, multifarious, and fragmented nature of knowledge in this crucial field of international business. The study includes an analysis of each article on four major grounds (i.e., research design, scope of research, research methodology, and thematic areas), aiming to obtain a holistic picture of and identify trends in the subject. The content analysis reveals that:(a) the vast majority of exporting studies adopted a cross-sectional, field-oriented, and survey approach, while there was a steady increase of research with a formalized and causal character; (b) research into exporting had gradually shifted outside North America, involved multiple industries, and used exporters as the unit of analysis; (c) recent exporting studies have employed probability sampling designs, larger samples, construct validation procedures, and advanced analytical methods more extensively; and (d) export performance was the most widely examined topic, attracting continuous attention over time. Several conclusions are derived that can contribute to the field's theoretical and practical advancement.Exporting International business Review Content analysis

Valuation of brand equity and retailer growth strategies using real options

In marketing, significant attention has been devoted to the study of drivers and outcomes of strategic flexibility drawing on real options theory. However, research that quantifies the specific value of flexibility reflected in a bundle of strategic real options is lacking. To remedy this gap, we develop a real options-based framework that takes account of brand expansion and extension options to value brand equity and retailer growth strategies. We show how to value the bundle of strategic real options associated with a flexible marketing strategic vision and how to assess the growth strategies related to the corporate brand of an international retailer. We apply our method to estimating the brand equity of Starbucks both under growth and adversity conditions. The results reveal that our method can more reliably incorporate the growth potential of the brand under uncertainty conditions. Comparisons with other brand valuation approaches are discussed. Our study helps clarify the links among management’s strategic plans, brand-based marketing strategies and share price, and allows to better monitor the impact of retailer strategic choices on long-term brand equity value