"Supply Chain Capability, Organizational Slack and the Subsequent Selection of an Alliance Strategy"

Abstract

The linkages within a supply chain are increasingly important sources of competitive advantage. Network collaboration can be viewed as a dynamic capability building process that enables the system evolve with its surrounding environment. The purpose of this study is to investigate how supply chain capability and organizational slack impact the choice of alliance strategy. We argue that the selection of different types of alliance strategy is based on the distinct aspects of various shortfalls in performance of a firm¡¦s current supply chain, and that slack resources play a contingent role in influencing this choice. Data on Taiwanese optoelectronics and semiconductor companies was collected from a survey and secondary sources, give a total of 463 cases of linkage formation. The results indicate that the more a firm is seeking network efficiency and flexibility, the more likely a shaping or adapting strategy will be chosen rather than a stabilizing one. In contrast, the more a firm purses network effectiveness, the more likely it is to choose a stabilizing strategy. Organizational slack thus have distinct moderating effects on the relationship between supply chain capability and alliance strategy.