Strategic Alliances

Over the past several decades there has been an enormous increase in the formation of international strategic alliances and in the research efforts devoted to understanding alliances. This article analyses the major issues and research questions in the international strategic alliance area. Although the objective is to be as comprehensive as possible, the volume of research in this field is so large that various areas can be discussed only peripherally. The article begins with a brief overview of alliances forms and then moves on to consider alliance formation and governance structures, alliance performance, control issues, bargaining power, the role of trust, evolutionary processes, and alliance networks. Within each section, key research areas and questions are identified and the major supporting research and associated findings are discussed.