THE FOX SCHOOL of Business and Management ELSEVIER Journal of Intermational Management 14 (2008)173-189 E MPLE UNI T Y The stability of strategic alliances: Characteristics, factors and stages Xu Jiang, Yuan Li", Shanxing Gao School of Management, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, PR China Received 31 January 2007: received in revised form 18 September 2007; accepted 19 September 2007 Available online 2 May 2008 Abstract A, This paper presents a theoretical framework for understanding the evolutionary dynamics of strategic alliances. Using an tegrated process model, we analyze the conceptual characteristics and antecedents of the stability of strategic alliances. T primary purpose of this study is to(1) conceptualize and characterize alliance stability to fill the academic gap in the literature, and (2)identify a range of endogenous factors underlying alliance stability across four developmental stages- partner selection, structuring/negotiation, implementation and performance evaluation as to fill the managerial relevance gap. From the discussion, we develop a number of propositions to facilitate future empirical testing of our conceptual model. Finally, we indicate some key implications for theoretical research and managerial practice C 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Strategic alliances; Dynamics; Stability; Developmental stage 1. Introduction The dynamic aspects of strategic alliances have received increasing attention from both academics and practitioners in the past decade. In their recent contribution, however, Bell et al. (2006)contend that there are still both an academic gap and a managerial relevance gap in the literature on the dynamics of cooperation. The academic gap arises from the fact that the majority of the academic research has failed to contribute to a coherent and empirically validated knowledge foundation. Theoretical progress has been impeded by contradictory assumptions, theoretical diversity, insufficient knowledge accumulation, and scattered, non-comparable findings(De Rond and Bouchikhi, 2004). The managerial relevance gap exists because the existing dynamics research often addresses issues that are irrelevant to alliance managers'needs, providing only partial answers to managerial questions. Bell et al. suggest future research hould be more devoted to developing a proper theory and improving managerial relevance so as to fill the two gaps. What Bell et al. contend is direct to the point in current alliance research. The present paper is an attempt to offer the type of knowledge which they have called for. It is necessary to note that dynamics is a strategic variable which mbodies different dimensions in itself, and therefore it is unlikely that a single research project will take all these This paper was supported by NSFC(70472039, 70671082 and 70372050) s Corresponding author. Tel: +86 29 82665093; fax: +86 29 82668382. E-mailaddresses:jiangaini(@yahoo.com.cn(XJiang),liyuan@mailxjtu.edu.cn(Y.Li),gaozn(@maiLxjtu.edu.cn(S.Gao) 1075-4253/S front matter o 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/ Inman.2007.09.002The stability of strategic alliances: Characteristics, factors and stages ☆ Xu Jiang, Yuan Li ⁎, Shanxing Gao School of Management, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, PR China Received 31 January 2007; received in revised form 18 September 2007; accepted 19 September 2007 Available online 2 May 2008 Abstract This paper presents a theoretical framework for understanding the evolutionary dynamics of strategic alliances. Using an integrated process model, we analyze the conceptual characteristics and antecedents of the stability of strategic alliances. The primary purpose of this study is to (1) conceptualize and characterize alliance stability to fill the academic gap in the literature, and (2) identify a range of endogenous factors underlying alliance stability across four developmental stages — partner selection, structuring/negotiation, implementation and performance evaluation — so as to fill the managerial relevance gap. From the discussion, we develop a number of propositions to facilitate future empirical testing of our conceptual model. Finally, we indicate some key implications for theoretical research and managerial practice. © 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Strategic alliances; Dynamics; Stability; Developmental stage 1. Introduction The dynamic aspects of strategic alliances have received increasing attention from both academics and practitioners in the past decade. In their recent contribution, however, Bell et al. (2006) contend that there are still both an academic gap and a managerial relevance gap in the literature on the dynamics of cooperation. The academic gap arises from the fact that the majority of the academic research has failed to contribute to a coherent and empirically validated knowledge foundation. Theoretical progress has been impeded by contradictory assumptions, theoretical diversity, insufficient knowledge accumulation, and scattered, non-comparable findings (De Rond and Bouchikhi, 2004). The managerial relevance gap exists because the existing dynamics research often addresses issues that are irrelevant to alliance managers' needs, providing only partial answers to managerial questions. Bell et al. suggest future research should be more devoted to developing a proper theory and improving managerial relevance so as to fill the two gaps. What Bell et al. contend is direct to the point in current alliance research. The present paper is an attempt to offer the type of knowledge which they have called for. It is necessary to note that dynamics is a strategic variable which embodies different dimensions in itself, and therefore it is unlikely that a single research project will take all these Journal of International Management 14 (2008) 173–189 ☆ This paper was supported by NSFC (70472039, 70671082 and 70372050). ⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 29 82665093; fax: +86 29 82668382. E-mail addresses: jiangaini@yahoo.com.cn (X. Jiang), liyuan@mail.xjtu.edu.cn (Y. Li), gaozn@mail.xjtu.edu.cn (S. Gao). 1075-4253/$ - see front matter © 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.intman.2007.09.002