Strategic Alliance Success Factors: A Literature Review on Alliance Lifecycle

Abstract

Objectives. The research aims to investigate how firms can achieve alliance success. In global markets, the alliance failure rate is very high. This study will try to understand why, facing with such a high failure rate, more and more firms decide to enter or form strategic alliances. It appears necessary to identify key factors and show how firms can successfully manage them in each phase of alliance lifecycle.Methodology. For this study, a qualitative approach was adopted, in order to explore and understand the research problem. The issues of alliance success factors is investigated through the analysis of the existing literature, focusing in particular on the last two decades.Findings. By reviewing several theoretical perspectives, we identified alliance success factors and showed what kind of relevance they have in each phase of alliance lifecycle. It was found that strategic alliances develop through three phases. Alliance success lies on successful management of key factors, involved in each phase.Research Limits. Research deals with the issues of alliance success factors at the level of a single alliance and not at the level of an alliance portfolio. Further research should extend the analysis perspective.Managerial Implications. Firms involved in a strategic alliance should consider several critical aspects. For the entire alliance lifecycle, they have to look for a high degree of fit with their own partners. Another important aspect is related to the risk of opportunistic behavior, which could be reduced through the choice of an appropriate governance form and the development of social capital.

A Literature Review of Inter-Organizational Sustainability Learning

“…Still, in comparison to firm-level outcomes, partnership-level outcomes have been studied even less. In the commercial inter-firm alliance context, partnership effectiveness or success has been frequently discussed [235][236][237] However, in the context of sustainability, only a few studies have focused on partnership terminations [186] and partnership success [171,207]. Future studies can further explore how inter-organizational learning and firm-level outcomes impact perceived partnership performance and study the impact of catalysts and inhibitors on this relationship.…”

Coevolution of environmental sustainability orientation and strategic alliance learning in green supply chain management

“…This perspective is discussed herein as a multidimensional construct with multiple aspects, including information sharing, JSM, and KI. JSM refers to the extent and degree of information sharing and GRL as well as the integration of knowledge into a firm's memory [Russo and Cesarani, 2017]. Hence, the development of knowledge sharing in green SC relationships will lead to beneficial performance outcomes, as identified in the present study.…”

Joint Ventures between Online Portals and News Publishers: Will they be an Alternative to Symbiosis?

“…However, the motivations behind the formation of a joint venture are rather multifarious and thus its performance should not be evaluated only by its financial performance [20,21]. In fact, several theories and academic fields (e.g., transaction cost economics, strategic behavior theory, and organizational learning theory) showed more diverse discussions about the motivation of an alliance like a joint venture [19,22,23]. A company steps into a strategic alliance with another company because, for instance, it desires to cut some of the transaction cost [24][25][26], to take the initiative in the market and achieve economies of scale [27,28], or to access particular sets of knowledge or core competencies to strengthen the company's strategic flexibility [29].…”

“…Studies of the late 1990s started to explore diverse aspects in performance evaluation of an alliance. Along with financial performance, scholars began to investigate the fulfillment and realization of the strategic intents [23,30], the satisfaction level of the alliance parties [31,32], or the achievement of sharing (physical, financial, technological, managerial knowledge, etc.) between the alliance parties [33][34][35].…”