Alliance Portfolio Management Research Articles

Research on the Origin and Composition of Alliance Portfolio Management Ability

With the increase in innovation risk and the acceleration of technological iterations, a single bilateral alliance cannot meet the needs of corporate innovation activities. More and more companies have established multiple alliance relationships with cross-regional and cross-industry external organizations at the same time. However, most companies are still unable to systematically manage alliance portfolios from a holistic perspective, and usually only focus on conflicts and competitive behaviors between alliances. If an enterprise wants to build a high-performance alliance portfolio, it must have the ability to develop and manage several external alliance relationships, that is, the ability to manage alliance portfolios. Based on the combing and analysis of related research results, the origin and connotation of alliance portfolio management capabilities are systematically analyzed, providing a new perspective for innovation management research in alliance portfolios.

How Do Alliance Portfolio Factors Affect a Precision Medicine Firm’s Innovation Performance?

Precision medicine is an approach to disease treatment and prevention that seeks to maximize effectiveness by taking into account individual variability in genes, environment, and lifestyle. The medical paradigm has been changed with the emergence of precision medicine and many companies with business related to precision medicine should cooperate with other companies. The purpose of this study is to analyze the alliance portfolio factors that affect firms’ innovation performance. This study examined whether the diversity factors of the alliance portfolio and alliance management capability influenced its innovation performance. Additionally, we investigated the moderate effects of participation of research organizations in the alliance portfolio. As a result, there was an inverted U-shaped relationship between the industry diversity of the portfolio and innovation performance; therefore, the participation of research organizations in the alliance portfolio showed a positive effect. Additionally, the value governance diversity changed to have a positive effect by interacting with research organizations. This study provides information on the alliance portfolio factors that affect the innovation performance of precision medicine companies.

CAPACIDADES PARA TRABALHAR COM ALIANÇA: UM ESTUDO DE CASO LONGITUDINAL

Este artigo identificou vantagens e desvantagens da implementação de uma estrutura dedicada à gestão de alianças, assim como avaliou os instrumentos criados e sua finalidade. Os resultados demonstram que as vantagens da estrutura dedicada - mediação, organização e centralização da relação - superam as desvantagens - burocratização e lentidão no processo de tomada de decisões. A pesquisa contribuiu para a discussão sobre o papel do escritório e as relações entre ele e os mecanismos de formação das capacidades de aliança. Reafirmou sua importância no que se refere ao acúmulo e troca de conhecimento e identificação de oportunidades, confirmando a literatura. Outra contribuição relaciona-se à avaliação longitudinal - método pouco utilizado na literatura até então - da atuação do escritório - elucidando sua evolução e mecanismos de aprendizado. No que se refere à prática gerencial, o estudo contribuiu para demonstrar a necessidade de autonomia, apoio organizacional ao escritório e de treinamento específico em gestão de portfólio de alianças para os gestores envolvidos na coordenação de alianças.

Alliance portfolio management capabilities, corporate entrepreneurship, and relative firm performance in SMEs

ABSTRACT This article shows how small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can enhance the level of corporate entrepreneurship through alliance management capabilities. The findings from a sample of 272 suppliers to the mining industry demonstrate that the constituting dimensions of alliance portfolio management capability (that is, partnering proactiveness, relational governance, and portfolio coordination) positively affect corporate entrepreneurship. Moreover, corporate entrepreneurship mediates the effects of these dimensions on firm performance. These findings improve our understanding of how organizational capabilities enable SMEs to mitigate their lack-of-resources problem while engaging in interfirm relationships to better utilize corporate entrepreneurship for increasing firm performance.

Bridging the gap: organisational value frames and sustainable alliance portfolios

Research on sustainability-oriented partnerships focused either on inter-firm or cross-sector partnerships separately and often took the partnership as a level of analysis. As opposed to the partnership level, the firm-level analysis that investigates portfolios of sustainability-oriented partnerships were brought forward by only a few studies. By drawing on the literature of alliance portfolios, this paper builds the notion of "sustainable alliance portfolio" further to move scholarly attention towards the bigger picture of firms' partnership efforts for sustainability. Taking stock on the research that introduced organisational cognition to corporate sustainability which showed how partners' value frames co-evolve, converge, diverge or fuse over time; this paper theorises how business case and paradoxical frames impact the configuration, management and development of sustainable alliance portfolios. Overall, this paper bridges the gap between two constructs-organisational value frames and sustainable alliance portfolios- and offers propositions for future research to draw attention to the under-theorised portfolios of sustainability-oriented partnerships.

Alliance Portfolio Management and Sustainability of Entrepreneurial Firms

The aim of the present work is to testify whether the alliance portfolio management capability has an impact on entrepreneurial firms’ sustainability. A moderating mediation model has been applied to a sample consisting of 101 entrepreneurial firms listed in New OTC Market (Over the Counter Market) in China. Based on the research design, second-hand data and first-hand data were used. The findings reveal that the two dimensions of the alliance portfolio management capability, i.e., partnering proactiveness and relational governance, can trigger a higher value of the alliance portfolio and result in the sustainable growth of entrepreneurial firms. What is more, when the board of directors has centralized power, the alliance portfolio management capability will increase the value of the alliance portfolio and improve the sustainability of entrepreneurial firms. Unlike the previous literature, this study discovers the internal mechanism between the alliance portfolio management capability and firms’ sustainability in the context of entrepreneurship. The theoretical condition of this relationship is provided from the perspective of the board of directors.

Growing with the market: How changing conditions during market growth affect formation and evolution of interfirm ties

Research Summary: Market conditions are known to matter for firm performance and growth. This study explores how changing levels of uncertainty and competition affect interfirm ties of entrepreneurial firms as markets transition from nascent to growth stage. Tracing six entrepreneurial game publishers during the growth stage of the U.S. wireless gaming market, the findings reveal that in a growth stage market, as uncertainty decreases, certain ties of entrepreneurial firms are terminated. First, existing partners may cut ties and become competitors after entering the market directly. This is a “winner's curse” as more successful firms are more likely to entice their partners to enter the market directly. Second, ties may be terminated as prominent firms that are “overwhelmed” with too many partners cut ties with low to mediocre performance, while their remaining partners enter a positive spiral of tie strength and performance. Finally, as uncertainty decreases, new firms may enter the market as competitors to prominent firms. While entrepreneurial firms with high‐ and low‐performing ties to prominent partners may find ties with these new entrants attractive, those with mediocre ties to few prominent partners find this move too risky and wait for a first mover to legitimate it. Overall, the findings show that changing levels of uncertainty and competition in growth stage markets can have different consequences for firms due to heterogeneity in their ties and power relative to partners. The findings provide several contributions to literature regarding the relationship among interfirm ties, firm performance, and market evolution. Managerial Summary: Based on interviews at six entrepreneurial game publishers in the United States and their partners, this study shows how changing levels of uncertainty and competition in growing markets can have different consequences for firms based on the different types of alliances in their portfolio and their power relative to partners. The findings highlight the importance of managing partners differently based on alliance type and goal of the partner. They advocate remaining flexible in alliance management as information asymmetries, intentions and bargaining power of partners can change and lead to abrupt alliance dissolution. They show that alliance portfolio management goes beyond a firm's capability of managing individual alliances, and provide a tool for managers to evaluate their alliance portfolios and take the necessary precautions.

Papel e posição do departamento de alianças: caso Embrapa

O presente artigo tem por objetivo apresentar base empírica sobre os elementos que compõem a capacidade de aliança. Especificamente, procura entender as atividades da área de gestão do portfólio de alianças e sua relação com as outras áreas da organização. Para tanto, apoia-se nos pressupostos da literatura de capacidades dinâmicas, visão baseada em conhecimento, visão baseada em competências e a teoria do aprendizado organizacional. O método utilizado foi o estudo de caso, operacionalizado por meio de entrevistas semiestruturadas, análise de documentos e observação participante. Os resultados destacam a importância e o papel da área responsável pela gestão do portfólio de aliança. Além disso, complementa suas funções com a estrutura organizacional; oferece evidência empírica dessas funções e demonstra como o processo de gestão é efetivamente realizado nas diferentes fases que o compõem.

Examining Alliance Portfolios Beyond the Dyads: The Relevance of Redundancy and Nonuniformity Across and Between Partners

In this research, we unpack how interdependencies affect not just individual dyads but also value creation across an alliance portfolio and ultimately a focal firm’s performance. Moving beyond the collection of dyadic relationships of individual alliances, we examine more holistically the distribution of power imbalances and mutual dependences within alliance portfolios, as well as the impact of redundancies in portfolio partners’ resources. Building on resource dependence theory, we develop and test arguments on a sample of 59 firms in the U.S. passenger airline industry during 1998–2011. We find that nonuniform distributions of power imbalances and mutual dependences within the alliance portfolio as well as redundancy affect firm performance in different ways, which has implications for the management of alliance portfolios.

MANAGEMENT OF ALLIANCE PORTFOLIOS AND THE ROLE OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The objective of the present work consists in testing whether the strategic involvement of boards of directors has a positive influence on the development of alliance portfolio management capability and on the value that the alliance portfolio generates. A variance-based structural equation modelling (Partial Least Squares) has been applied to a sample constituted by 139 top Spanish companies. Our analysis shows that the strategic involvement of the board of directors has a positive and influence on the management of alliance portfolios, thereby influencing the value of that portfolio in an indirect way. Unlike previous literature, this study links the functions of the board of directors to organizational capabilities, connecting the literature on corporate governance and on management of alliance portfolios.

Alliance Portfolio Management: Dimensions and Performance

Our paper contributes to the understanding of the alliance portfolio management capability by examining the relationships among their different dimensions and their impact on the alliance portfolio performance. The current study proposes and tests a multiple mediating model and tests the mediation. A variance‐based structural equation modelling (partial least squares) has been applied to a sample made up of 144 top Spanish companies. Our analysis on the one hand fosters the importance of the partnering proactiveness and their influences on the alliance portfolio performance, and, on the other, formulates mediation hypotheses, which posit how the relational governance and portfolio coordination dimensions play a critical mediating role in the partnering proactiveness – the alliance portfolio performance link. Results from the data analysis show that the dimensions of alliance portfolio management capability are related in such a way that the relational governance and the portfolio coordination: (1) partially mediate the effect of partnering proactiveness on the alliance portfolio value; and (2) exert significant influences on the alliance portfolio performance.

Managing Healthcare Alliance Portfolios: A Theory-based Typology

IntroductionOrganizations operating in dynamic industries are faced with large amount of uncertainty regarding strategic options, and thus, must maintain the flexibility to respond to changes in the external environment and capitalize on the opportunities they provide (Teece, Pisano, & Schuen, 1997). Increasingly, organizations are managing environmental uncertainty and achieving strategic organizational goals by forming alliances with partners who offer strengths not maintained by the primary organization (Schreiner, Kale, & Corsten, 2009). Healthcare organizations, in particular, operate in an extremely dynamic environment due to frequent changes in the regulatory demands. The dynamism has never been more evident than with the recent passage of the Affordable Care Act. This act promotes an accountable care organization (ACO) model that encourages hospitals, physicians and other healthcare to collaborate to ensure cost effective delivery of patient care. Creating and maintaining these ACO alliances in addition to the many other non-ACO alliances in cohesive and efficient manner is challenging as managers must account for not only the dynamics of each alliance, but also for how each dyadic relationship influences the overall portfolio of alliances (Wassmer, 2010). Healthcare alliances have historically not been equipped to manage these types of portfolios and to date no specific insight to healthcare strategic alliance portfolio management has been proffered.In order to address this opening in the literature this paper sets out to examine the phenomenon of healthcare alliance portfolios from two perspectives. First, we utilize resource dependence theory (RDT) (Pfeffer & Salancik, 1978) to derive the options of strategic alliances that healthcare administrators can form based on the value and congruence of the resources that the alliance relationship could provide. Second, we use the resource-based view (RBV) (Barney, 1991) to explicate the options that administrators can use to manage the coordination, communication, and bonding of the formed strategic alliances. We then integrate these two perspectives and explain how effective management of the individual dyadic relationships and the overall alliance portfolio is important for establishing competitive strategic position within the healthcare industry.Analyzing portfolios of alliances requires hospital management to step back from the day-to-day management of transactional contracts and adopt broader perspective to ensure that the overall portfolio configuration is congruent with the organization's strategic goals (Gulati, Lavie, & Singh, 2009). Many organizations enter into alliance relationships without considering the impact of the relationship on the overall portfolio or how the specific alliance improves the alignment of the overall portfolio of alliances with the organization's strategic plan (Bamford & Ernst, 2002). Healthcare reform and the surrounding legislation suggests the need for real and significant changes to the way healthcare is delivered, yet leaves healthcare leaders in quandary as to how to make the necessary changes. In addition to the changing definitions of reform itself there is a lack of knowledge and experience on the part of providers (McClellan, McKethan, Lewis, Roski & Fisher, 2010 p.987) on the structure of the organization and the essential relationships necessary to implement the changes required or encouraged by the reform legislation. Similar to other organizational leaders, healthcare administrators may not fully consider how newly forged ACO alliances may contribute to their current alliance portfolio. With the ever-changing dynamic of the healthcare industry, not only the composition of the portfolio but also the management of the relationships is increasingly difficult. The national strategy for healthcare reform calls on ACOs to continue to examine the effectiveness of the relationships they create both within and outside the patient care area with an eye on clinical care and economic responsibility. …

Exploring the Impact of Alliance Portfolio Management Design on Alliance Portfolio Performance

As firms engage in an increasing number of alliances, they face the challenge of managing such an alliance portfolio. Although existing studies on alliance portfolio management (APM) mainly focus on (i) alliance experience and (ii) APM best practices, they remain silent on how firms structurally design their APM system. On the basis of the survey data of 103 companies that engaged in technology alliances between 2006 and 2008, we identify four first‐order (APM formalization, APM hierarchy, APM specialization, and APM participation) and two second‐order (mechanistic APM and organic APM) dimensions that explain how firms design the management of their technology alliance portfolios. In addition, we find that adopting an organic approach toward designing APM significantly increases alliance portfolio performance, suggesting that particular APM designs might contribute to building alliance management capabilities. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Interfirm collaboration in a cultural context: insight from the research on the ICT industry in Poland

In the global ICT industry, an explosion of alliances has been observed. This study aims to analyse the interfirm collaboration phenomenon in the ICT firms in Poland. Previous studies show that unlike in developed countries, interfirm collaboration in Poland is not a common way of firms’ development. The reasons may be inherent in the environment, including socio-cultural setting. This study explores all stages of the formation and management of firms’ alliances on the sample of 140 firms, and their alliance portfolios. A mixed methods approach was chosen, comprising of a literature review, quantitative analysis, in depth interviews with top managers, as well as interviews consultations with several experts. The study complements and extends existing literature in the area of alliance portfolio phenomenon by providing empirical evidence of emergence, configuration, and management of alliance portfolios.

Connecting Alliance Portfolio Diversity, Alliance Portfolio Management, and Innovation Performance

Whereas prior alliance portfolio research has focused on either the composition or management of alliance portfolios, we explore the connections between them. Adopting insights from information pro...

Alliance Portfolio Management Capability and Portfolio Performance

Firms in dynamic industries such as biotechnology, computers and telecommunications are increasingly engaged in a dense network of strategic alliances and inter-firm relationships. Consequently, th...

Alliance Portfolios and Innovation Performance

Whereas existing alliance portfolio studies mainly focus on the structure or management of alliance portfolios, we conceptually explore the connections between them. In particular, we formulate propositions, arguing that the formalization, centralization, and customization of alliance portfolio management moderate the relationship between the structural characteristics of alliance portfolios (i.e., alliance portfolio size and alliance portfolio heterogeneity) and innovation performance. Based on this assessment, we identify different alliance portfolio management bundles for different alliance portfolio structures and formulate interesting avenues for future research.

Sequence Patterns of Firms' Acquisition and Alliance Behaviour and their Performance Implications

abstractStudying repetitive acquisition and alliance behaviours from a temporal perspective, we conceptualize a taxonomy of sequence patterns. Our approach defines sequences as the set of acquisition and alliances a firm initiates each year over its life‐course. Using optimal matching techniques and clustering analysis, we empirically identify seven different sequence patterns and demonstrate that firm and performance attributes differ across these sequences and depending on the contingent effect of a firm's stage of development. We discuss the implications of our taxonomy and findings for our understanding of the temporal management of alliance portfolios and acquisition programmes.

Portfolio management of strategic alliances: An international business perspective

This paper extends the Integration–Responsiveness ( Bartlett & Ghoshal, 1989; Prahalad & Doz, 1987) international business framework of multinational companies (MNCs) strategies in order to explain the MNC's various approaches to managing strategic alliance portfolios. Our research shows that the alliance portfolios of MNCs differ significantly with respect to partner integration and partner heterogeneity. We argue that the choice regarding the management of alliance portfolios depends on the MNC's international strategy. The empirical results reveal the impact of local responsiveness through the partner heterogeneity, and the impact of MNC integration on the level of global partner integration respectively.

Confident or Competent? How to Avoid Superstitious Learning in Alliance Portfolios

Impressive studies show that sharing alliance experience and having a dedicated alliance function lie at the foundation of repeated alliance success. However, with increasing experience, the dangers of overconfidence loom. In other words, certain learning mechanisms may well foster the adoption of inadequate cause-and-effect relationships derived from prior experience. Using such insights in other strategic alliances is likely to foster an imbalance between competence and confidence in alliance management. Hence, the challenge for today's firms seeking to improve their alliance portfolio outcomes lies in optimising the use of prior experiences by institutionalising routine activities, while also ensuring that new practices can be adopted. Using the insights of expert interviews and detailed analysis of 192 alliance portfolios containing over 3400 strategic alliances, convincing evidence shows how firms can ensure they increase their alliance capability with experience, without falling prey to the overconfidence trap. Important managerial lessons on how to avoid overconfidence in alliance portfolio management are discussed.