Open AccessAlliance formation: A Study of the Malaysian Automobile Supporting Industry
Author(s) -
Ahmad Bashawir Abdul Ghani,
Malcolm Tull
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
gadjah mada international journal of business
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.192
H-Index - 9
eISSN - 2338-7238
pISSN - 1411-1128
DOI - 10.22146/gamaijb.5502
Subject(s) - rivalry , alliance , competitor analysis , business , strategic alliance , competition (biology) , industrial organization , automotive industry , marketing , economics , microeconomics , ecology , engineering , political science , law , biology , aerospace engineering
Competition in global industries is shifting increasingly from inter-firm rivalry to rivalry between networks of firms. Strategies of individual firms are thus contingent on the degree of interdependence that exists between them and the parent firm in the network. The present study examines the effect of network affiliation on a member firm’s decision to enter a foreign market and international strategic alliance formation. Affiliate firms have two options available to them: (1) enter into a competitive strategic alliance with a competitor or (2) enter into a symbioticstrategic alliance with the parent firm of the network organiza-tion. We tested this assertion using data from archival sources on sixty-five Japanese automobile suppliers that had set up strategic alliances in Malaysia and that belonged to various inter-organizational networks. Results indicate that when affili-ate firms are dependent on the parent firm, they prefer to form symbiotic strategic alliances. Conversely, affiliate firms prefer competitive strategic alliances with competitors when they are not dependent on the parent firm. ALLIANCE FORMATIONA Study of the Malaysian Automobile Supporting IndustryKeywords: automobile industry; joint venture; mode of entry; networks; strategic alliances