| Intercompany collaborations have rapidly expanded as technological interdependence and integration of world markets have increased. Firms are entering into strategic alliances to leverage their skills and resources, to acquire new knowledge, and to generally improve their prospects in a complex environment.; This dissertation focused on non-equity, formal contract, alliances between U.S. industrial firms. It examined why and how managers select and use certain structural and operating mechanisms, and the consequences of these mechanisms on alliance effectiveness. Five alliances between different sized firms, in "new" and "mature" industries were studied. Interfirm transactions included technology sharing/development, co-marketing, and strategic cost reductions. Research was conducted through 50 personal interviews of 37 senior and operating managers from all parent companies. Additional data were gathered from direct observations, and 12 free-form interviews of 10 other senior managers. Results were cross-compared, and generally supported theoretical propositions developed form the organizational contingency literature. Findings suggested that alliance structures tended to reflect those of the parent firms, and that in effective alliances integrative mechanisms such as program, liaison managers, and action councils were used. Also, the higher a firm's alliance dependence the more safeguards it used and the less opportunistic its behavior, and the more ambiguous the transaction the more interpersonal the information exchange mechanisms. Effective operating mechanisms included open and largely informal communications, high levels of coordination through mutual adjustment, joint decision making, and conflict-resolution through problem solving. Situational and internal consistency factors such as parent company size, nature of the industry, company culture, and managerial style influenced managers' choice of mechanisms. Unexpectedly, it was found that there were very few alliance-specific individual inducements (nevertheless participants expressed high intrinsic motivation), that companies used less information technology in operating their alliances than in their mainstream activities (to protect intellectual property), that there were no alliance-specific plans or budgets, and that there was a lack of appropriate alliance performance measurements. Training was recommended for effective managerial skills and mechanisms to enhance alliance benefits. |
