An empirical study of the effects resources contributed by firms have on their objectives and orientations in a strategic alliance: A resource and risk management perspective

This study focuses on the effects resources contributed by firms to a strategic alliance have on the objectives and orientations of these firms in such cooperative business arrangements. Eighty-five firms engaged in such business arrangements within a specific geographic location were studied. The firms were classified as small to mid-range in size, employing between two hundred to five hundred workers compared to multinational corporations. A high percentage of them were in such business arrangements only within their geographic location. Also, the firms were not segmented into the industries of their businesses. The study builds on the theoretical foundations of strategic alliance making orientation by Das and Teng, 1998; and confirms the role resources play in such business arrangements.; The results of the study show that the resources firms bring with them to a cooperative business arrangement such as a strategic alliance will have a significant effect on the objectives and orientations of these firms within the alliance{09}when risk factors, perceived or real, associated with the alliance and/or the partner firms are taken into consideration at the time of the alliance formation. The study provides an empirical base for a qualitative study of the effect of segmentation into the various industries in which firms in a cooperative business arrangement such as a strategic alliance operate.