Corporate courtship: A multiple case study of strategic alliance formation processes

This study examines the processes used by organizations to construct strategic alliances. Case studies of alliance formation processes were constructed from interviews with executives at the participating organizations, archival data, and interviews with executives at the partner firms where possible. Two types of alliances were defined based on the function of the alliance structure in fulfilling the value chains of the organizations. Three horizontal alliances--collaborations between firms with fully functional value chains to create new products or services-- and three vertical alliances--arrangements between firms collaborating to complete their respective value chains--were studied.; The data collection was guided by working propositions developed from the literature. These propositions focused on the motivations for forming alliances, the existence and role of alliance champions, the processes used to search for an alliance partner, and the information gathering and processing practices used by the participants to reduce uncertainty and equivocality during partner search and alliance agreement negotiations. Individual case analyses were constructed based on the working propositions, and these analyses were collectively reviewed for common themes not covered by the propositions.; Several differences were found between the horizontal and vertical alliance-formation processes. The vertical alliances were a basic business strategy of the organizations involved, whereas the horizontal alliances were chosen as means to exploit particular opportunities that arose for the organizations. The vertical alliances relied less heavily than did the horizontal alliances on individual alliance champions, and followed established routines to gather and process the information needed to locate a partner and negotiate an agreement. The horizontal alliances were traceable to the efforts of particular champions, and the participating organizations seemed to invent the process as they went along. Organizations that stayed focused on making the alliance work to their benefit perceived their alliances as being more successful in achieving their goals than did organizations that concentrated their efforts solely on forming the alliance.