Applications virtual special issue: Practical advice on how to unlock value from your alliances

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2536
• Author: Andrew Shipilov,Ithai Stern
• Date: 01 December 2016
• Published date: 01 December 2016

ApplicationsVirtualSpecialIssue:

PracticalAdviceonHowtoUnlockValuefromYourAlliances

AndrewShipilov,IthaiStern

INSEAD

Introduction

This“ApplicationsVirtualSpecialIssue”ofarticlespublishedintheSMSjournalshighlightspractical

insightsaboutsuccessfulalliancestrategy.

ResearchonalliancesintheSMSjournalsandbeyondhasbeennothingshortofexplosive.Weclearly

knowmorenowaboutthemyriadcontingenciesassociatedwithallianceformationandalliance

performancethanwedidatthetimeofthepublicationoftheseminalbooksonthesesubjectsby

YoshinoandRangan(1995)orDozandHamel(1998).Yetthemaindisadvantageofthesheersizeofthe

bodyofknowledgeonalliancesisthatapersonseekingpracticalguidanceonhowtounlockvaluefrom

alliances(orothercollaborativearrangementswithcustomers,suppliersorcompetitors)canbeeasily

lost(Greveetal.2014).ThepurposeofthisVirtualSpecialIssueistosurveytheSMSfamilyof

publications(SMJ,GSJ,andSEJ)toprovidepracticalinsights.Obviously,SMSjournalsdonotrepresent

theentirepopulationofoutletsthatpublishstudiesexaminingperformanceimplicationsofalliances,

thereforewecitesomeoftheworkoutsideoftheSMSjournalsaswell,whichareincludedinthe

referencesattheendofthisintroduction.PublicationsintheSMSjournalsarelistedavailablefor

downloadalongwiththisintroduction.

Performanceenhancingopportunitiesfromalliancesexistatthreelevels:thecompanythatisinvolved

incollaborations,thedyadbetweenthepartners,andthecompany’sallianceportfolio.Inturn,there

arethreeleversthatexecutivescanmanipulatetoextractperformanceacrossthesethreelevels:they

canacquireallianceexperience,leveragetheirstatusandmakechoicesbetweenalliancesandother

vehiclesforcorporategrowth.Wewillusethisthree‐by‐threeanalyticalframeworktoguideour

literaturereviewandtosummarizeselectedperformance‐relatedrecommendations,whicharebacked

upbypriorresearch.

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