JoMS Article Published

New Article Published in the Journal of Management Studies 45(3): 530-560

Disentangling alliance management processes: Decision making, politicality, and alliance performance

Jorge Walter*, Christoph Lechner*, & Franz W. Kellermanns***

* Portland State University, ** University of St. Gallen, *** Mississippi State University

Using a sample of 106 organizations engaged in strategic alliances, we develop and test a framework of alliance-related organizational decision-making processes and their impact on alliance performance. With regard to direct effects, our results show a negative impact of decision-making recursiveness and no significant relationship for openness and procedural rationality. Acknowledging the importance of the organization’s micropolitical context in which these decision processes are embedded, we also test the moderating influence of politicality. Our findings provide support for our hypotheses that in a context of low politicality, the decision-making characteristics of openness and procedural rationality have a positive influence, whereas recursiveness negatively affects alliance performance. In a context of high politicality, however, openness and procedural rationality exert a negative influence, and the negative impact of recursiveness is aggravated. We suggest that alliance-related decision making cannot be adequately understood without explicitly considering the micropolitical context in organizations.

Keywords: Strategic alliances, alliance performance, alliance-related decision-making processes, politicality.

For a copy of the article, please contact me directly.

Paper Included in Best Paper Proceedings

I am very happy to announce that our new paper will be included in the Best Paper Proceedings of the 2008 Academy of Management Meeting:

Dormant ties: The value of reconnecting

Daniel Z. Levin*, Jorge Walter**, & J. Keith Murnighan***

* Rutgers University, ** Portland State University, *** Northwestern University

The prevailing view of social network ties is that, if not continually maintained, they will wither and disappear, losing their value as social capital. In contrast, we propose that dormant ties—i.e., former ties in which two parties have lost touch—can be a particularly valuable source of knowledge. We predict that dormant ties that were once strong can combine the benefits of weak ties (novelty and efficiency) with the benefits of strong ties (solidarity and comprehension). Our results support all four parts of this prediction: prompting executives to consult their dormant contacts about an important work project led to extremely useful interactions. The findings highlight the value of dormant ties as an overlooked and often-untapped source of social capital.

Keywords: Social capital, weak ties, knowledge transfer

New Working Paper Presented @ Purdue & Kentucky

My co-author Daniel Levin (Rutgers) has presented our new working paper "Dormant ties: The value of reconnecting" (co-authored with Keith Murnighan at Kellogg) at Purdue University (on February 19) and the University of Kentucky (on March 18).

We received a lot of valuable feedback to incorporate into our paper before submitting it to a journal by early summer, so thanks to all the seminar participants!

2007 SMS Annual International Conference

For more information on the conference, check out their website.

2007 Society of Entrepreneurship Scholars Conference

My co-authors and I have received an invitation to the 2007 Society of Entrepreneurship Scholars Conference.

Included in the conference program is a Manuscript Boot-Camp, where we will present the paper:

The conference will take place August 16-19 at Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, and Franz will present the paper on our behalf.

JBR Article Published

New Article Published in the Journal of Business Research 60: 698-710

Knowledge Transfer Between and Within Alliance Partners: Private Versus Collective Benefits of Social Capital

Jorge Walter*, Christoph Lechner*, & Franz W. Kellermanns***

* Portland State University, ** University of St. Gallen, *** Mississippi State University

This article examines the process through which multilevel network structures translate into knowledge acquisition from alliance partners. The degree of knowledge transfer a multidivisional company achieves from its network of alliance partners is determined not only by the organization's external network structure, but also by the structure of relationships among its business units. By distinguishing two perspectives on the distribution of social capital's benefits - private versus collective - this article's approach reconciles the competing views on what types of network structures create social capital, that is, the brokerage and closure views of the social network literature. Private benefits of brokerage and centrality are more beneficial in interfirm networks, whereas collective benefits provided by network closure and low levels of centralization are more beneficial in intrafirm networks.

Keywords: Inter- and intrafirm networks; knowledge transfer; social capital; strategic alliances

Find the article here: Walter_2007.pdf

2007 Academy of Management Annual Meeting

In 2007, the Academy of Management Annual Meeting will be hosted by my wife's beloved hometown Philadelphia, PA. Under the conference theme "Doing well by doing good", we will present our paper:

The conference will take place August 3-8, 2007. For more information, check the AOM website.

This trip also offers an opportunity to visit my old friend Florian, who is currently holding a postdoctoral position at the University of Pennsylvania, and his wife Andrea during the last 4 months of their stay in this fantastic city. To see some pictures of their experiences in the US, check their website.

2006 SMS Annual International Conference

This year's Strategic Management Society's Annual International Conference with the title "Strategy and Governance in a World of Institutional Change" took place October 29 - November 1 in Vienna, Austria. Together with my co-authors I presented the paper:

For more information on the SMS Conference, visit their website.