Challenging the current flood of mergers and acquisitions this book presents an alternative, more efficient strategy of inter-firm alliances. In the context of recent developments in international business, the discussion takes in alliances between buyers and suppliers, between competitors and between firms in different industries. This theory is illustrated and elaborated with empirical detail from a variety of international case-studies. These studies include the car industry in the US, Europe and Japan, the Dutch photocopier industry and ten European electronic suppliers ... Inter-firm Alliances combines resource-based views, transaction-cost analysis and institutional economics to develop an original and comprehensive theory of inter-firm alliances and a coherent method for managing them.

This volume examines the factors which influence the nature and extent of inter-firm alliances. The discussion takes in alliances between buyers and suppliers, between competitors, between firms in different industries, against the background of developments in international business. On the basis of an inventory of different forms of alliance, the author defines rigorous criteria for choosing one. A set of tools is then developed for the design and analysis of governance of relations, as well as for establishing, developing and terminating an alliance. Inter-Firm Alliances combines 'resource-based' views, transaction-cost analysis and institutional economics to develop an original and comprehensive theory of inter-firm alliances and a coherent method for managing them. The theory is illustrated and elaborated with real-life detail from a variety of international case studies. Both as a theoretical guide to evolving organizational practice and as a manual for successfully governing inter-firm alliances, this volume will be a precious resource for students and researchers in business and international management studies.

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2010 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: A, University of Groningen (Faculty of Economics and Business), course: International Business & Management, language: English, abstract: Although various researchers have called attention to inter-firm relations and their effect on innovation, relatively few studies so far have examined the topic from an integrative point of view. While some research has been done on individual variables chosen by the researchers beforehand for a certain firm in a specific industry and setting, there has been a small amount of research towards a much more universal approach. The here presented study therefore aims at gaining comprehensive insight into the fundamentals of the previously described approach. In particular the objective of this study is to analyse how the characteristics of inter-firm relations influence creativity and innovation. This is done by contextualizing the factors used in previous literature and analysing their impact on innovation as well as the implementation processes.

The real options-based conceptual framework for alliance-making presented here responds to the challenge of developing a new metrics for managing strategic partnerships in the face of uncertainty. Such a framework involves: mapping (and selecting one of) the various staged paths envisioned for the start-up and development of the alliance in terms of strategic options exercisable over the lifetime of the cooperative venture; assessing the incremental, synergistic value of those options (if exercised on the net, tangible and intangible, assets of the venture); anticipating the potential impact of risks on the success/failure of the venture and associated synergistic value erosion; defining the optimal option map for implementing the strategic alliance via potential, successive adjustments to the initial strategy (information loop is closed).

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2010 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: A, University of Groningen (Faculty of Economics and Business), course: International Business & Management, language: English, abstract: Although various researchers have called attention to inter-firm relations and their effect on innovation, relatively few studies so far have examined the topic from an integrative point of view. While some research has been done on individual variables chosen by the researchers beforehand for a certain firm in a specific industry and setting, there has been a small amount of research towards a much more universal approach. The here presented study therefore aims at gaining comprehensive insight into the fundamentals of the previously described approach. In particular the objective of this study is to analyse how the characteristics of inter-firm relations influence creativity and innovation. This is done by contextualizing the factors used in previous literature and analysing their impact on innovation as well as the implementation processes.

The organization of interfirm networks, such as alliances, cooperatives, franchise and retail chains, has become an important research topic in the field of economics, marketing, strategic management, and organization theory. This book contributes to the literature on formal and informal inter-organizational governance by providing new insights on contract design, ownership, evolution of cooperation, role of social capital and performance in franchising networks; includes topics of loyalty, reputation and organizational form as well as performance of cooperatives, and discusses the relationship between formal and relational governance in alliances, governance structures of innovation activities, dynamics of interfirm conflicts, and network externalities and alliance formation.