Partner selection for strategic alliances: case study insights from the maritime industry

Date29 June 2010
Published date29 June 2010
Pages841-860
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/02635571011055081
AuthorMarina Z. Solesvik,Paul Westhead
Subject MatterEconomics,Information & knowledge management,Management science & operations
Partner selection for strategic
alliances: case study insights
from the maritime industry
Marina Z. Solesvik
Bodø Graduate School of Business, Bodø, Norway and
Stord/Haugesund University College, Haugesund, Norway, and
Paul Westhead
Durham Business School, Durham University, Durham, UK and
Bodø Graduate School of Business, Bodø, Norway
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this exploratory study is to examine the partner selection criteria reported
by maritime firms in Norway. The study aims to analyze how a maritime firm’s competitive advantage
can be enhanced by the selection of the right partner with reference to a strategic alliance.
Design/methodology/approach – A multiple-case study methodology was used. Archival, survey
and interview data were explored relating to the partner selection process reported by Norwegian
maritime firms. Primary data were gathered from semi-structured personal interviews with managers
of Norwegian maritime firms.
Findings – Case study evidence suggests that the strategic alliances were successful when partners
had been carefully selected. As detected elsewhere, successful alliances were associated with partners
that had managed to build trustful and honest relationships, had common strategic goals, and partners
that supplied resources and competencies. Notably, it was detected that cyclicality in the maritime
industry shaped the partner selection process. Trust between partners was used as mechanism to
reduce uncertainty relating to the strategic alliance process. Firms seeking long-term alliances selected
partners with substantial capital and financial stability to survive a market’s downturn, as well as the
resources required for expansion during a recession.
Practical implications Presented findings have implications for practitioners, especially for
managers of shipping firms, banks, shipyards, producers of ship equipment, ship design firms, and
ship brokers. Practitioners need to be aware that the rationale for inter-firm collaboration change over
time, and motives are linked to the phase of the maritime cycle. Inter-firm collaboration provides
competitive advantage benefits to firms and collaboration can protect as well as create jobs and can
create wealth in maritime communities.
Originality/value – A novel conceptual contribution is the exploration of links between maritime
industrial cyclicality and the partner selection process relating to strategic alliances. The study also
adds to debates relating to the profiles of internationalizing smaller firms.
Keywords Strategic alliances,Case studies, Partnership, Ships
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Structural hole barriers (Burt, 1992; Doz et al., 2000) to opportunity identification,
pursuit and exploitation, as well as firm development can be addressed by firms that
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0263-5577.htm
Insightful comments and suggestions from two IMDS referees are warmly acknowledged.
Partner selection
for strategic
alliances
841
Received 17 February 2009
Revised 23 March 1010
Accepted 5 April 2010
Industrial Management & Data
Systems
Vol. 110 No. 6, 2010
pp. 841-860
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0263-5577
DOI 10.1108/02635571011055081
develop formal relationships with other actors, which can provide access to essential
resources, competencies, knowledge and legitimacy. Strategic management scholars
suggest that the selection of the right partner is a key determinant of strategic alliance
success (Dong and Glaister, 2006; Shah and Swaminathan, 2008; Wu et al., 2009).
Despite a body of studies relating to partner selection criteria (Doherty, 2009; Evans,
2001; Holmberg and Cummings, 2009), there are still gaps in the knowledge base.
Issues relating to the partner selection process relating to the maritime industry have
generally been neglected. The purpose of this exploratory study is to examine the
partner selection criteria reported by maritime firms in Norway. The aim of the study
is to analyze how a maritime firm’s competitive advantage can be enhanced by the
selection of the right partner with reference to a strategic alliance. The Norwegian
maritime cluster consists of shipping companies, shipbuilding yards, producers of ship
equipment, ship design firms, maritime insurance firms, ship brokers, and
classification societies. Organizations included in the maritime cluster are diverse.
This study focuses on the value chain relating to shipping companies, shipbuilding
firms, ship design firms and suppliers of equipment.
There is a gap in the knowledge base relating to the resource acquisition strategies
adopted by firms in cyclical industries (Alajoutsija
¨rvi et al., 2001). The purpose of this
exploratory study is to examine the partner selection criteria reported by maritime
firms in Norway. This study analyzes how a maritime firm’s competitive advantage
can be enhanced by the selection of the right partner with reference to a strategic
alliance. Guided by insights from the emerging dynamic strategic alliance perspective
(Madhok and Tallman, 1998; Shah and Swaminathan, 2008; Holmberg and Cummings,
2009), this study provides fresh insights into when and why maritime firms select
specific alliance partners with reference to the under-explored cyclical maritime
context. Moreover, guided by insights from the resource based view (RBV) of the firm,
the competence-based (CB) perspective, Geringer’s (1991) classification of selection
criteria, trust theory, and shipping and shipbuilding cycle theory this qualitative study
explores the following research questions:
(1) What criteria are used by maritime firms when they select a partner for a
strategic alliance?
(2) How do maritime firms choose partners for inter-firm collaboration?
(3) Does maritime industrial cyclicality shape partner selection criteria?
A novel conceptual contribution is the exploration of links between maritime industrial
cyclicality and the partner selection process relating to strategic alliances. Information
from four maritime cases is used to build theory (Zahra and Newey, 2009) relating to
the partner selection process. Several novel propositions linked to theory are proposed
from the case study evidence. This study also adds to debates relating to the profiles of
internationalizing smaller firms (Wright et al., 2007). Several modes of
internationalization are highlighted, which are linked to the resource pools and
needs of Norwegian firms, as well the domestic environmental contexts of the foreign
markets they are seeking to enter.
Practitioners need to be aware that the motivations of partners shape the strategic
alliance process. Notably, maritime industrial cyclicality shapes the selection criteria
considered by partners. Insights from the cases will enable scholars to develop more
appropriate quantitative tools to facilitate appropriate decision-making relating to the
IMDS
110,6
842

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT