Editors: Farok J. Contractor and Jeffrey J. Reuer
Publisher: Cambridge University Press – 490 pages
Book Review by: Sonu Chandiram
We have all heard the saying “two heads are better than one.” Using the same principle of combing the experience, expertise, ideas, knowledge, skills and talents that individuals use to achieve results that can be far greater than the combined outcomes of two individuals, companies have also begun forming alliances to achieve revenues and earnings that are much bigger than the sum of two firms’ financial results.
Every way of doing things for greater outcomes has its plusses and minuses, and strategic alliances between two companies or among a group of them are subject to successes and failures as well. The authors and editors of this work discuss the Do’s and Don’ts about strategic alliances so that you the student of strategies in organizations can avoid the pitfalls they have encountered and learned from. What better way to avoid losing money than to learn from their mistakes and experiences?
Seventy-three specialists in “negotiating, structuring, and governing partnerships” (as the subtitle of this book states) including the editors named above, from all over the United States and 16 other countries – Austria, Belgium, China, Costa Rica, Ecuador, France, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, and the United Kingdom – authored the chapter of this book listed below:
- Part I – Theory and Future Directions in Alliance Research
- Frontiers of Alliance Research
- Understanding Contracting Behavior: The Role of Power
- Rationality in Theoretical Modeling of Collaborative Ventures
- The Transaction Cost Theory of Equity Joint Ventures
- Using Alliances to Test Core Theories of Strategic and international Management
- Part II – Alliances in the Context of Rapid Technological Change and Disruptions
- Responding to Digital Disruption Through Alliances
- Performance Differences of Jointly Owned Firms in the US Electronics Sector
- Part III – Micro-foundational Processes and Coordination Between Partners
- Learning to Coordinate in Alliances
- Social Psychological Foundations of Alliance Cooperation: The Role of Identity and Identification in Shared Alliance Interest
- A Multilevel Framework of Alliance Management: The Paradox of Coopetition
- Part IV – Alliance Management Capability
- The Evolution of Alliance Capability in Large Organizations: The Case of Alliance Management
- Strategic Animation in Global Professional Services: A Case for Virtual Integration Processes in Network Organizations
- The Organizational Design of the Alliance Management System: A Contingency View
- Part V – Alliance Scope
- Alliance Scope: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives
- The Effect of Alliance Scope in Knowledge Flows
- Part VI – Alliance Portfolios and Multilateral Alliances
- Technology Alliance Portfolios and Radical Innovation: The Role of Different Alliance Portfolio Information Processing Mechanisms
- Multilateral Alliances: A Review and Research Agenda
- Part VII – Multimarket Competition and Multinational Alliances
- Multimarket Competition and Alliance Formation
- Profitability of Joint Ventures Abroad : Explaining a New Empirical Puzzle
- Think Globally, Act Cooperatively : Entrepreneurial Partnering Between INVs, MNEs
- Part VIII – Innovation Networks and Alliances
- Increasing Knowledge Complexity and Informal Networks in the Information Age
- Characteristics of Innovation-Driven Interim Alliances, 1957-2006: Analysis and Research Directions
- Part IX – Fostering Trust and the Impact of Culture
- The Double-Edged Sword of High Expectations: Presumptive Trust, Reflective Trust, and Satisfaction in International Joint Ventures
- Culture and Cross-Border Alliances: Unholy Matrimony
- Part X – The Evolution, Survival, and Termination of Alliances
- Should I Stay or Should I Go Now? Integrating the Learning and Selecting Views on Firms’ Successive Make-or-Ally Decisions for Product Innovation
- Surviving Alliance Network Evolution During Industry Convergence: Observations and Future Research Directions
- XI – Future Public-Private Partnerships
- Pay to Play: Connecting University Research Funding to Licensing outcomes
- Multiple Partners in Public-Private Collaborations: Beyond the Dyadic Forms of Cooperation
This book is not only useful to those who have formed or are forming alliances with companies in the same country, but also with companies in other countries. While much more nuanced knowledge is needed in order to achieve success with an overseas partner (such as learning their culture and norms), this book provides the basic tools for smoother business relationships.
Editors:
Farok J. Contractor is a Distinguished Professor at Rutgers Business School in New Jersey.
Jeffrey J. Reuer holds the Guggenheim Endowed Chair and is a Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado in Boulder.