2009, Article in monograph or in proceedings (Cinet 2009)Setting up strategic alliances and trying to attain the intended goals is a highrisk venture. Most research into this topic is confined to already established alliances. This research will focus on perceived performance risks by organizations considering a possible strategic venture. Following other scholars, we focus on performance risks. But unlike previous research we have made an effort to uncover the underlying dimensions of these risks. We will show that the risk perception influences the readiness towards the possible setup of a strategic alliance. Organizations with a high risk perception are less inclined to set-up a strategic alliance. Although we expected that organizations with a higher risk perception would also opt for more risk mitigation, our findings shows the opposite. The research shows that the ability to improve processes is an intermediate explaining variable. Organizations accustomed to continuous improvement and integral quality management have a lower risk perception towards the set up of strategic alliances and also show more readiness to take risk mitigation measures.
2009, Article in monograph or in proceedings (Cinet 209)In this paper we will identify the contract dimensions of alliance contracts directed at joint development of new products or services. We will determine to what extent these contract dimensions are adaptable to future needs and insights. We will also provide insight into the contingency of these adjustable contract dimensions upon competence trust, the build-up of alliance experience and cooperation intensity. The results demonstrate that the adaptability of the risk and revenue distribution lags behind the adjustability of other critical contract dimensions like the scope definition, determining the input of assets and the anticipated efforts of alliance partners. This contrast in adaptability can result in an early demise of alliances. On the other hand there is evidence that alliances create such a dependency that alliances, especially those directed at joint development, tend to create a lock-in or prisoner dilemma.
2009, Article in monograph or in proceedings (Proceedings of the 10th International CINet Conference)In striving for an excellent position regarding competitors in all aspects of management and operations, organizations benefit from establishing strategic cooperations. With allies they can be more successful in surviving the hyper competition. From this survey we derived the frequency, importance and effect of instruments also regarding the organization’s collaborative maturity. The results give food to the assumption that the application of ‘hard’ Continuous Improvement tools (CI) and techniques are of more relevance in achieving the goals of cooperation than ‘soft’ CI-tools.