Developing Alliance Capabilities in a New Era

alliance, capability

Alliance capability as mediator between experience and alliance performance: an empirical investigation into the alliance capability development process

alliance, performance, capability

Three Levels of Alliance Management

alliance, management

Superstition undermines alliances

Many studies conclude that the more alliances a company forms, the better it becomes at them. That makes intuitive sense—but it’s not always true

A study into the alliance capability development process

In order to understand differences in alliance performance and rent generation between firms, we conceptually investigate the capability development process. Given the increasing importance of alliances as a revenue generator and the concomitant need for firms to optimize their alliance performance, this study uses experience, micro-level mechanisms, routines and capabilities as key ingredients of the capability development process. Building on an extensive literature review, a model is introduced which represents the alliance capability development process. From this model, three propositions are derived which relate to the role of experience and capabilities (consisting of micro-level mechanisms and routines) in alliance performance. In doing so, we hope to contribute to the understanding of the process underlying the development of an alliance capability

Developing alliance capabilities in a new era

Recent empirical research suggests that, despite unprecedented attention on alliance management in the academic and management literature, failure rates of alliances remain at a very high level. On the basis of a global survey among alliance managers, this paper aims to reveal recent trends in alliance capability building and tries to uncover novel ways in which firms try to enhance their alliance performance

Alliance capability as mediator between experience and alliance performance : an empirical investigation into the alliance capability development process

This study centers around the way in which firms can enhance alliance performance through the development of an alliance capability. Whereas most research has focused on inter-firm antecedents of alliance performance (i.e. factors influencing the quality of the relationship), research on intra-firm antecedents points to prior experience and internal mechanisms fostering knowledge transfer. As little is known about how firms need to develop an alliance capability, this study aims to uncover the relationships between critical concepts underlying the alliance capability development process. To this end, the results of a worldwide survey among 151 firms and expert interviews yield a number of findings. First, a model of alliance capability development is proposed which is derived from a multitude of theories and links experience, micro-level mechanisms, routines, capabilities and performance. Second, whereas prior research has shown that experience is a key determinant of alliance performance, our study finds that alliance capability mediates between experience and performance. These results provide empirical evidence of the need for firms to leverage prior experience by dispersing and sharing knowledge through micro-level mechanisms. These results extend current understanding of the critical intra-firm determinants of alliance performance and the underpinnings of capability development research in general. Moreover, they also enable firms to take appropriate action at the micro-level

The evolution of alliance capabilities

This paper assesses the effectiveness and differential performance effects of learning mechanisms on the evolution of alliance capabilities. Relying on the concept of capability lifecycles, prior research has suggested that different capability levels could be identified in which different intra-firm learning mechanisms are used to enhance a firm’s alliance capability. However, empirical testing in this field is scarce and little is known as to what extent different micro-level learning mechanisms are indeed useful in advancing a firm’s alliance capability. This paper analyzes to what extent intra-firm learning mechanisms help firms evolve their alliance capability and create competitive heterogeneity. Differential learning may induce firms to yield superior returns in their alliances in comparison to competitors. We present a conceptual model that assumes capabilities evolve through different types of learning. The results show that different learning mechanisms have different performance effects at different stages of the alliance capability development process. This points to differential learning effects of learning mechanisms at the different levels of alliance capability. The main lesson from this paper is that firms can influence the evolution of their alliance capability as different mechanisms have differential performance effects and are more appropriate at different levels of alliance capability

Three levels of alliance management

Alliance management has been on the agenda of management scholars and corporations for many years now. In spite of the attention in the academic and management literature on many aspects of alliance management, track records of alliances are still poor. Most of the literature has been unable to unveil the secret ingredients of alliance success. Only very recently, authors have started to make significant progress in the area of alliance management. In this paper we argue that there are three main levels of analysis in alliance management literature. Moreover, we content that a dyadic or firm-level perspective is not sufficient to deal with the full dynamics of alliances. Successful alliance management, therefore, requires a profound understanding of all three levels of alliance management and their interaction: dyadic, firm-level and network-level management of alliances

Developing alliance capabilities in a new era

Recent empirical research suggests that, despite unprecedented attention on alliance management in the academic and management literature, failure rates of alliances remain at a very high level. On the basis of a global survey among alliance managers, this paper aims to reveal recent trends in alliance capability building and tries to uncover novel ways in which firms try to enhance their alliance performance