Research On Opportunism In Asymmetric Strategy Alliance Networks

Strategy alliances between organizations is generally viewed as a means for enhancing competitive competence, the continuing increasing of strategy alliances has become a common phenomena in many different industries. Strategy alliances between larger, established firms and smaller, growing firms are called asymmetric strategy alliance, asymmetric strategy alliance is critical for product innovation, particularly in high-technology markets.Though so many advantages strategy alliance can bring to firms, the dark side still follows. Opportunism is the main reason for alliance failure. The extant researches on opportunism are all with dyadic view, especially in Transaction Costs Economics and Social Exchange Theory, 'contract', 'transaction', 'relationship' are used as analysis unit, while a fact is neglected, that is alliances between firms exist and develop in a social networks. So there needs such research as using social network analysis method analysing, explaining opportunism in network environments. So the purpose of this research is using social network analysis method, developing a systematic explanative understanding about the opportunism behavior of smaller firms in the Asymmetric Strategic Alliance Networks(ASAN), including antecedents and consequences of opportunism, the control of opportunism and diffusion process of opportunism in the networks. This research will answer these questions about opportunism in the networks: (1) What are the conditions of ASAN's comeing into being. Is there ASAN in reality? if there is,what is ASAN's network structure and the characters of ASAN? (2) What are the antecedents of opportunism in ASAN? and how they work? (3) What are the consequences of opportunism in the netwrok environments. (4) Does the opportunism behavior of smaller firms diffuse among ASAN? and how to diffuse? (5) What is the main control machine of opportunism in ASAN?and what are the key factors in controling? Firstly, the theoretical foundations are introduced. Including the theoretical foundations of opportunism research, the focus of opportunism research, the progress in asymmetric strategic alliance research, the progress of applications of social network analysis in strategy alliances research.. According to the contents of this research, a conceptual framework is formed. Eight Service Provider (SP) companies and two communication operation companies in China was choosen as empirical study samples. Materials are collected through interviewing with the employees of sample companies.Through the analysis of different extant network concepts, seven conditions for ASAN's coming into being are listed. The first research hypothese of the research is that ASAN exists. Materials collected from the empirical environment are used and this hypothese is tested to be true, an ASAN exists in the telecommunication add-value service industry. Further researches on ASAN find that the network structure of ASAN is star form and three kinds of relationships in ASAN are L-S(large-small),S-S(small-small) and A-E (alliance-environment). The network structure and relationships in ASAN will act as research foundations for the following content.Three antecedents of smaller firm's opportunism behavior are put forward, that is trust, dependency, competition and conflictions among partners. Key factors, such as communication, organization culture, power, are analysed in trust building prediction process, intentionality process, capability process and calculative process. A concept model of key factors in trust building-trust level-opportunism are put forward. At dependency antecedent part, the hypothese is that there exists asymmetric dependency among the asymmetric partners and the degree of asymmetric dependency is positive related with smaller firms' opportunism behavior. The competition among partners, weak point of resources exchanges , managerial goals conflictions among partners are all antecedents of opportunism. Materials collected from interviews are used for testing these four groups of hypotheses. The result is that all the hyphtheses about antecedents are tested to be true except hypothese about capability process of trusting building of larger firms on smaller firmsIn the consequences research part. There are two hypotheses are proposed, the first is that the smaller firms' opportunism behavior will result in tempestuously changes of industry structure; the second hypothese is that the smaller firms' opportunism behavior will inflict damage on social environment. Materials collected from interviews are used for testing these two hypotheses. Both of thest two hypotheses are true and the last hypotheses are enriched as that the smaller firms' opportunism behavior in ASAN will arouse opportunistic behavior of customers in the networks in succession, then inflict damage on social environment.In the opportunism diffusion research part, the opportunism information diffused process and opportunism information adopted process are analysesed. There are two groups of hypotheses are proposed, that is opportunism information diffused process are direct process and indirect process; opportunism information adopted process are ruled by: personal network exposure rule, equivalence rule and feedback rule. The first group hypotheses about diffused process are tested to be true, while the second group of hypotheses about opportunism information adopted process don't pass the test all, only equivalence rule is tested to be true.In the opportunism control part, the larger firms in ASAN are proposed as the main control machine on smaller firms' opportunism behavior. The network position of larger firms in ASAN are analysesed and according to social network analysis larger firms will own information benefit and control benefit in ASAN, it is possible that these two kinds of benefits will help larger firms for the controlling of smaller firms' opportunism behavior. So hypotheses are proposed that information benefit and control benefit owned by larger firms in ASAN will be advantages of controlling opportunism in prepositive control process and in reaction control process. It is also important that the larger firms' attitude about smaller firms' opportunism behavior, four factors can explain the attitude change of larger firms, that is cost-profit consideration, margin premium, pressures from environments, competitions with smaller firms. The hypotheses are tested with the interview materials. The result is that larger firms' control benefits work in reaction control process, but neither of information benefit and control benefit work in prepositive process. Except the factor of margin premium, three other factors are tested to do influce the attitude of larger firms about opportunism control.The lasted part is conclusion and discussion.Several useful implications for larger firms, smaller firms and government are put forward. Limitations and future research are also proposed.Network theory and methods was used to research the antecedents, consequences, diffusion and control of smaller firms' opportunism behavior, it is a new application of network theory and method in opportunism research.