This paper focuses on the impact that reputation has on the decision to proceed with a strategic alliance. Employing reputation constructs adapted from the Fortune Corporate Reputation Survey, we manipulated a target firm’s reputation in an experimental design. The subjects were placed in the role of CEO of the partner firm and asked whether they would engage in the alliance. Findings indicate that (1) reputation is a multidimensional construct, (2) the personal information‐processing characteristics of the decision‐maker mediate the reputation effect and may suppress the reputation information, (3) subjects may compensate weaker elements of reputation for stronger ones when making decisions, (4) product and management reputation are the most important factors, and (5) reputation is a factor affecting the decision regardless of whether the proposed target is a supplier or a competitor. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This study provides evidence that collective strategy is prevalent in small firms in fragmented industries. COMPUSTAT data were combined with afield survey of small manufacturingfirms to test hypotheses concerning the relative frequencies of various collective strategies, the effects of environmental variables on collective activity, and the contribution of collective behavior to firm performance. Results indicate that agglomerate and organic collective strategies are the most frequently employed, and that munificent environments were positively associated with collective behavior and performance. Complex environments were negatively associated with collective strategy and no effect was found for volatile environments. The study also discusses methodological issues concerning the use of the COMPUSTAT database, and the usual practice of omitting cases with missing financial information.

This study extends existing work in the area of interorganizational relationships by exploring the interaction between the strategic posture of small firms and their propensity to form cooperative linkages. The most critical finding is that most small firms do use cooperative strategies, and that these strategies are used differentially by different strategic types. However, it is unclear whether there is a direct relationship between the competitive postures, interorganizational strategies, and small firm performance.

This article reports the results of a cross-sectional data collection in four Russian cities. The objective of the research is to ascertain whether, during the evolution of marketing in a transition to a free market, firms exhibit similar behaviors observed in well-established free-market economies. Structured interviews were conducted with 200 owner/managers of Russian firms. Structural equation modeling was used to test whether environmental turbulence results in a change in marketing orientation, ensuing use of marketing strategies, and improved firm performance. Although the model generally followed Western trends, there were important differences in the effectiveness of pricing and promotional strategies.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to uncover the performance effects of top management team (TMT) gender diversity in the merger and acquisition (M&A) process. To do so, an integration of the upper echelons perspective and the M&A process literature is offered to consider the “double-edge sword” of gender diversity on both pre- and post-integration performance. Additionally, the boundary effects of acquirer experience on the TMT gender diversity-performance relationship is examined. Design/methodology/approach – The hypotheses are tested in a sample of 310 acquisitions by Fortune 1,000 companies. Multiple regression analysis is utilized to test the effects on the two different performance variables. Findings – The findings reveal that TMT gender diversity is beneficial to pre-integration performance, but hinders post-integration performance. Additionally, the findings provide evidence that acquirer experience can overcome the negative effects of gender diversity in post-integration performance. Originality/value – This study contributes to a better understanding of the double-edge sword of TMT gender diversity by providing evidence that performance implications depend on the performance variable of interest. Specifically in the M&A context, gender diversity has differing effects on pre- and post-integration performance.