Oliver Rossmannek and Olaf N. Rank
This study aims to investigate how the home country institutional development influences the alliance formation process.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate how the home country institutional development influences the alliance formation process.
Design/methodology/approach
A network of strategic alliances between 95 airlines over a 5-year period is analyzed with stochastic actor-oriented models [i.e. Simulation investigation for empirical network analysis (SIENA)]. Robustness analyses use a subsample of these airlines over a period of 10 years.
Findings
The results demonstrate that the membership in a firm group and a high share of state ownership are more beneficial for the number of alliances if the firm originates from a country with low institutional development.
Practical implications
Firms from less developed countries can use affiliations (e.g. to firm groups or the government) as signals to attract international alliance partners.
Social implications
Policymakers from less developed countries should support the development of (local) firm groups to stimulate interorganizational cooperation.
Originality/value
Firms form alliances based on two aspects: preferences for alliance partners and attractiveness to potential partners. Prior studies outlined that institutional development affects the preferences of firms for alliance partners. This study demonstrates how the institutional development influences the attractiveness to potential partners.
Details
Keywords
Oliver Rossmannek and Olaf Rank
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of alliance portfolio internationalization (API) on firm performance in the context of exploitation alliances.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of alliance portfolio internationalization (API) on firm performance in the context of exploitation alliances.
Design/methodology/approach
The hypothesis is tested by applying a panel regression using a sample of 64 airlines over a nine years period.
Findings
As a result, the study finds a U-shaped relationship between API and firm performance.
Research limitations/implications
The results are particularly relevant for firms using many exploitation (e.g. marketing) alliances.
Practical implications
In the context of exploitation alliances, managers should focus either on local partners or to take advantage of partners with a high degree of foreignness. Stuck in the middle seems to be not advantageous.
Originality/value
Previous work found an S-shaped relationship between portfolio internationalization and firm performance while concentrating on exploration alliances. In contrast, this study shows that exploitation alliance portfolios do not experience a decline of firm performance at high levels of portfolio internationalization.