EFFECTS OF STRUCTURAL CONDITIONS AND PROCESS CHARACTERISTICS ON INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCE OUTCOME.

Abstract

The article examines the aspects of international business alliances and presents several hypotheses on the process of inter-firm alliances. Whereas recent criticism of the inter-firm alliance literature has identified a number of shortfalls, the most prominent among them is the lack of attention paid to process aspects. Much of the research tries to explain alliance success primarily or solely on the basis of the structuring of the alliance. There are three important aspects of the structural conditions of an alliance, which are often identified in the international alliance literature: the governance structure, the corporate distance, and strategies of the partners. In the first hypothesis, the partner interaction process (duration, intensity of interaction, positive reaction of partners to adverse situation) positively influences trust. In the second hypothesis, the partner interaction process positively influences transparency. The third set of hypotheses pertains to the effect of the flexibility of t...