Relying on relational capital theory and transaction cost economics (TCE), this study identifies factors that impede or promote alliance formation in small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Environmental uncertainty and knowledge intensity impede firms' R&D alliance formation; the focal firm's...

Summary In this paper, we examine the relationship between buyer-supplier partnership quality, and supply chain performance, in the presence of supply and demand side risks and environmental uncertainty. Based on the theoretical underpinnings of resource-based view, relational capital theory,...

This article proposes an analytical framework to explain value creation through offshore outsourcing by addressing a key question: How do firms create value by outsourcing their business functions to foreign external providers? The growing prevalence of offshore outsourcing as a dominant...

This study revisits Chandler's seminal work <italic>Strategy and Structure</italic> (1962) empirically. This work helped fashion the notion of strategic fit as well as the need for new organisational forms. Chandler's fit-performance thesis proposes that firms which match structure to their strategy will become...

We present an analytical framework explaining offshoring in this paper. We address the question: why do firms offshore their business functions? Given the growing prevalence of offshoring as a dominant business practice in the world of global business, this question merits further research...

The economic power of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRICs) is rapidly increasing, changing the landscape of global economics and politics. Top scholars of international business address in this vital volume the markets, strategy implications, challenges and possibilities of this new economic...

Sociological-based information theory and economics-based competitive rivalry theory operate as the dominant theories of interorganizational mimetic behaviour. Recent work has sought to integrate the ideas in these theories, or determine which has greater explanatory power. In this study, we...

We identify and examine the efficacy of organizational mechanisms through which diversified firms are effectively managed without loss of control. Building on the resource based view of business groups, we argue that business groups in emerging markets use these mechanisms more often and derive...

An important step in the internationalization process of emerging economy firms is the shift from exports to foreign direct investment (FDI). We integrate the resource- and institution-based views to suggest that firms that can use unique institutional advantages are more likely to make this...