Transitory Alliances: An Instrument for Surviving Turbulent Industries?
10 Pages Posted: 15 Mar 2003
Abstract
Over the past decades, firms have constantly struggled to deal effectively with their rapidly changing environment. Especially in high tech industries, costs of R&D have rocketed, whereas steep learning curves and ever shortening product and technology life cycles have reduced the time to recoup these costs. Under such conditions of turbulence, a new form of alliances becomes an important part of the innovator's toolkit: transitory alliances. Transitory alliances can be defined as short-lived alliances that focus on completing narrowly defined tasks in a very short time frame. Companies can no longer rely exclusively on their traditional alliance and M&A practices to survive industry turbulence. Furthermore, transitory alliances can be a wellspring of innovation and provide companies with access to a portfolio of new ideas. They can help companies to acquire knowledge in a swift manner, thereby strengthening their ability to survive the high speed of change. The specific characteristics of this alliance type are discussed in this paper. Typical examples are taken from Internet related sectors.
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?
Recommended Papers
-
Empirical Tests of Optimal Cognitive Distance
By Stefan Wuyts, Massimo G. Colombo, ...
-
Optimal Cognitive Distance and Absorptive Capacity
By Bart Nooteboom, Wim Vanhaverbeke, ...
-
By Ariel Pakes and Zvi Griliches
-
Density and Strength of Ties in Innovation Networks: An Analysis of Multi-Media and Biotechnology
By Victor A. Gilsing and Bart Nooteboom
-
Situated Knowledge and Learning in Dispersed Teams
By Deborah L. Soule and Amy C. Edmondson
-
Proximity and Inter-Organizational Collaboration: A Literature Review
By J. Knoben and L.a.g. Oerlemans
-
By Bart Nooteboom, Victor A. Gilsing, ...
-
Cluster Life Cycles - Dimensions and Rationales of Cluster Development
By Max-peter Menzel and Dirk Fornahl
Transitory Alliances: An Instrument for Surviving Turbulent Industries?
This is a Wiley-Blackwell Publishing paper. Wiley-Blackwell Publishing charges $42.00 .
File name: RADM281.pdf
Size: 209K
If you wish to purchase the right to make copies of this paper for distribution to others, please select the quantity.
