Strategic Alliances

Strategic alliances have become well established as a viable organizational form and an important means of strategy implementation. In many industries, complexity and uncertainty have increased to the point that competing autonomously is no longer an option. Strategic alliances have the potential to create various benefits for the partner firms, such as access to new technologies and complementary skills, economies of scale, and the reduction of risk. This chapter provides an analysis of major issues and research questions involving strategic alliances. The chapter begins with a definition of alliances and then moves on to consider the rationale for alliances, learning as an alliance motive, alliance performance and instability, control issues, trust and alliances, and evolutionary processes. Within each section, key research areas and questions are identified and the major supporting research and associated findings are discussed. In the concluding section, several important directions for future research are identified.