Through key insights and ideas, the possibilities and realities of corporate alliances begin to emerge."--BOOK JACKET.

In the past three decades a number of important changes have made international business more complex and exciting. The rapid and continuous changes in information and communications technology (ITC), reduced trade barriers among countries, and regionalization have increased the links and dependency among firms from various countries. This has created opportunities for increasing expansion to new markets and increasing global integration while simultaneously posing many challenges. This book views international business as a complex and integrated system and takes a systems approach to study and analyze the changes thus enabling readers to assess global business opportunities and risk in a comprehensive and integral manner. The topics presented in this book allow practitioners, scholars, and students of international business to have a broad understanding of the most relevant issues in a changing international environment.

More than we ever anticipated, alliances among firms are changing the way business is conducted, particularly in the global, high-technology sector. The reasons are clear: companies must increasingly pool their capabilities to succeed in ever more complex and rapidly changing businesses. But the consequences for managers and for the economy have so far been underestimated. In this new book, Benjamin Gomes-Casseres presents the first in-depth account of the new world of business alliances and shows how collaboration has become part of the very fabric of modern competition. Alliances, he argues, create new units of competition that do battle with one another and with traditional single firms. The flexible capabilities of these multi-firm constellations give them advantages over single firms in certain contexts, offsetting the advantage of a single firm's unified control. When managed effectively, alliances can strengthen a firm's competitive advantage and narrow the gap between leading firms and second-tier players. This often results in intensified rivalry, and the competition within an industry is transformed. Alliances often spread swiftly through an industry as firms jockey for advantage. Yet the very spread of alliances increases their costs and poses new limits on their use. Gomes-Casseres concludes that firms need to manage their constellations to enhance collaboration within their groups, while raising what he calls "barriers to collaboration" for rivals. These ideas are developed and illustrated through original case studies of alliances among U.S., Japanese, and European firms in electronics and computers, including Xerox, IBM, and Fujitsu as well as other small and large companies. The book should be of interest to business academics, managers, and general readers concerned with contemporary capitalism.

This book presents theories and case studies for corporations in developed nations, including Japan, for designing strategies to maximize opportunities and minimize threats in business expansion into developing nations. The case studies featured here focus on Asia, including China and India, and use examples of Japanese manufacturers. Five case studies are provided, including Hitachi Construction Machinery and Shiseido in China and Maruti Suzuki in India. These cases facilitate the reader’s understanding of the business environments in emerging economies. This volume is especially recommended for business people responsible for international business development, particularly in China and India. In addition, the book serves as a useful resource for students in graduate-level courses in international management.

A volume in Research in Strategic Alliances Series Editor T. K. Das, City University of New York Strategic Alliances in a Globalizing World is a volume in the book series Research in Strategic Alliances that will focus on providing a robust and comprehensive forum for new scholarship in the field of strategic alliances. In particular, the books in the series will cover new views of interdisciplinary theoretical frameworks and models, significant practical problems of alliance organization and management, and emerging areas of inquiry. The series will also include comprehensive empirical studies of selected segments of business, economic, industrial, government, and non-profit activities with wide prevalence of strategic alliances. Through the ongoing release of focused topical titles, this book series will seek to disseminate theoretical insights and practical management information that will enable interested professionals to gain a rigorous and comprehensive understanding of the field of strategic alliances. Strategic Alliances in a Globalizing World contains contributions by leading scholars in the field of strategic alliance research. The 11 chapters in this volume cover a number of significant topics that speak to the growing role of strategic alliances in a globalizing business world. The chapter topics cover both the broader issues, such as the creation of competitive advantage and expanding into institutionally different countries, and the more focused problems of alliance formation, contractual governance, governance structure choice, the development of alliance capability, the containment of opportunism, relationship management, sensemaking, and the intersection of culture and legitimacy. The chapters include empirical as well as conceptual treatments of the selected topics, and collectively present a wide-ranging review of the noteworthy areas of alliance research in the globalization context.

Strategic Business Alliances examines key issues in the analysis, management and performance of international joint ventures using a sample of UK European equity joint ventures. The authors consider the viewpoint of all configurations of the international joint venture UK parent, European parent and joint venture management. Factors discussed include motives for formation, partner selection criteria, joint venture management, and control and performance, all of which have been identified in the literature as the core dimensions of joint venture activity. The book also explores the emerging issue of learning in strategic alliances, as well as the sensitive question of cultural differences in the mix of factors that surround the complexities of modern international joint ventures. Empirical evidence examined by the authors suggests that learning and cultural differences are vital elements in the operation and performance of these ventures. Given that inter-firm collaborative activity in an increasingly globalised world economy is a crucial aspect of the strategy of many firms, this book will be invaluable to students, researchers and academics with an interest in international business and strategic management. Managers and practitioners who require insight into the core dimensions of international joint venture activity will also find this book very useful.

Covers research on strategic alliances, and serves to lay out a research agenda on collaborative strategy and alliance management. This book covers the theoretical foundations that guide work on inter-firm collaboration, ranging from sociological perspectives to real options theory to diverse traditions within organizational economics.

"The book analyzes the development of global business-to-business electronic markets, and whether these markets are becoming a way of improving trust between organizations"--Provided by publisher.

Forging business alliances can vitalize corporate strategies. This book is a road map to the concepts and theories underlying successful business alliances in four critical industries: automobile manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, airlines, and telecommunications. Dr. Culpan offers the essentials of global partnering as seen from a strategic management viewpoint. He examines joint ventures, non-equity alliances, and business options designed to give a competitive edge over other allied firms. New conceptual models help to clarify various strategies and collaborative processes. By comparing the four major industries—and specific companies in each—this study explores not only the uniqueness of its subjects, but also the common grounds of various multinationals. Through key insights and ideas, the possibilities and realities of corporate alliances begin to emerge. Attention is also paid to the decision-making process as it relates cooperative ventures, as well as to the inevitable managerial challenges of forming, and managing, strategic alliances. The result is an astute analysis ideal for teachers, students, and strategists seeking fresh insights into the workings and benefits of corporate alliance.

The rapid emergence of strategic collaborations as alternatives to the usual go-it-alone entrepreneurial ventures is evident everywvhere - from the growing collaborative efforts of such muultinationals as IBM, AT&T and Siemens, to Japan's continuing use of alliances to help maintain their enviable economic dominance. Equally evident is the failure of many companies to make these collaborations work, and the fear that such alliances suggest corporate weakness and lead to an ultimate lack of control. In his remarkably detailed and lucid account of this major development, Robert Porter Lynch dispels the myths and fears surrounding alliances and provides you with time-tested, practical techniques and tips that enable you to create powerful linkages which secure long-term strategic goals. Offering his own counsel plus ideas from many of the world's best strategic thinkers, including Peter Drucker, Kenichi Ohmae and Harvard's Michael Porter, along with dozens of expert managers who contributed their best advice in strategizing, negotiating, and structuring alliances, Business Alliances Guide reveals the unique quality of collaborations - why they operate by a different set of rules, what advantages and drawbacks they bring, what goes into their success, what can cause them to self-destruct - and how you can ultimately benefit from them. Recognizing that alliances are built systematically - not hastily thrown together - the Business Alliances Guide provides an architectural model of an effective collaboration - the Alliance Development Pyramid - which, when followed, will help you avoid costly pitfalls and maximize the chances of successful implementation. Moreover, Business Alliances Guidealerts you to the "six deadly sins" that have destroyed at least 80% of all failed alliances. It tips you off to the seven early warning signs when an alliance is going awry and what you can do to set things right. And it illustrates, by highlighting the unfortunate plight of companies whose alliance efforts failed, the strategies you can employ to avoid the same fate. Enhanced by numerous graphs, models, charts, checklists, and point-by-point summaries, as well as boxed-off tips and warnings that underscore especially important advice, the Business Alliances Guide gives you a new and exciting foothold in today's global economy, helping you fully tap the speed, synergy, agility, and relative safety of strategic collaborations.