Transaction cost economics (TCE) theorists traditionally have classified transactions between firms as governed by either market or hierarchy. By assessing characteristics of the transaction - asset specificity, uncertainty, and frequency - firms choose the governance form which minimizes transaction costs, the costs of administering the business deal. During the 1980s, however, TCE has found itself unable to explain the proliferation of strategic alliances. These hybrid relationships seek the benefits of both markets and hierarchies, including quasi-integration, the control of assets without actual ownership. Further, hybrids tend to prefer trust-based relational contracting. TCE's acknowledgment of hybrids, however, raises other questions surrounding the behavioral assumptions which supposedly influence the transaction characteristic governance linkage. Various dissenting researchers have theorized that (1) trust is more dominant in business than opportunism (2) the behavioral assumptions actually function as variables in different contexts, and (3) trust offers an integration mechanism for behavioral variables.

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[pt] Esta pesquisa foi motivada pela percepção do momento favorável pelo qual a indústria de óleo e gás passa no Brasil com a descoberta de novas reservas de petróleo, e com o crescimento econômico do país. A partir dessas novas descobertas, diversas oportunidades começam a surgir para empresas que atuam nesta indústria. Porém, devido à complexidade e ao alto investimento necessário para atuar nesse segmento de mercado, a formação de alianças estratégicas se torna indispensável para melhor aproveitar essas diversas oportunidades. Sendo assim, o objetivo do trabalho é contribuir aos estudos sobre alianças estratégicas globais, através de um estudo de caso, identificando as alianças estratégicas existentes entre a empresa Technip Brasil e os atores-chave da indústria de óleo e gás, em termos de constituírem oportunidades e/ou ameaças. Dada a relevância da pesquisa e desenvolvimento para a evolução do setor e a ausência de um estudo que delimite as implicações estratégicas destes tipos de alianças, o presente estudo visa suprir esta lacuna. Para tal, ele adaptou o arcabouço de análise estratégica relacional global de Macedo-Soares (2011) para as alianças identificadas. Os resultados encontrados demonstram a relevância estratégica e a importância da formação dessas alianças, no sentido de aproveitar as oportunidades e mitigar as ameaças no nível da indústria de óleo e gás. / [en] This research was motivated by the perception of momentum that the oil and gas industry is going through in Brazil, with the discovery of new oil reserves, and consequent economic growth of the country. Thus, from these new discoveries, several opportunities begin to arise for companies operating in this industry. However, due to the high complexity and investment required to serve this market segment, the formation of strategic alliances have become necessary to take better advantage of these various opportunities. Therefore, the objective is to contribute to studies on global strategic alliances, through a case study, identifying strategic alliances between the company Technip Brazil and the key players of the oil and gas in terms of constituting opportunities and / or threats. Given the importance of research and development for the evolution of the sector and the absence of a study that establishes the strategic implications of these types of alliances, the research aims to fill this gap. To this end, this study adapted the framework for strategic analysis of global relational from Macedo-Soares (2011) for identified alliances. The results demonstrate the strategic relevance and importance of the formation of these alliances, in order to seize opportunities and mitigate threats at the level of oil and gas industry.

This essay focuses on firms that have publicly issued announcements that they were seeking a buyer. Managers of the firms in this unique sample display an idiosyncratic behavior by expressing a willingness to relinquish private benefits of control. The essay investigates the possible factors that may lead managers of these firms to issue such announcements, the effects of issuing "seeking buyer" announcements on shareholders' wealth, and the probability that such firms are later acquired. Results indicate that firms in poor financial condition, as well as larger and more homogeneous firms are more likely to issue a "seeking buyer" announcement. The interpretation of such results is that firms resort to issuing the announcement when a sale seems to be the means for survival, and when the sale is less likely without such an aggressive sale strategy. The announcements have a positive impact on shareholders' wealth, though they do not increase the probability of an acquisition. Essay 2: Shifts in risk as the result of corporate divestitures. The second essay investigates the effect of corporate divestitures on risk, while previous research focused exclusively on changes in shareholders' wealth. Specifically, this study explores changes in systematic, total and idiosyncratic risk as the result of spin-offs, carve-outs and asset sales. Additionally, I study factors that may explain the variation in risk changes as the result of the three types of divestitures. I document an increase in total and idiosyncratic risk for all types of divestitures, an increase in one of the measures of systematic risk for spin-offs and carve-outs and a reduction in systematic risk for asset sales. Change in risk is negatively correlated with the degree of focusing as the result of divestitures, and positively correlated with change in financial leverage. / by Marya Murdock. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2010. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2010. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Thesis advisor: Michael Barry / This paper will study the effects of airline alliances on the economic welfare of passengers and airlines by studying how membership in an airline alliance affects ticket price, revenue passenger miles, and available seat utilization. This paper will analyze three sets of data from the US Department of Transportation, including the DB1BTicket Report, the T-100 International Segment Report, and the T1: US Air Carrier Traffic and Capacity Summary by Service Class. The purpose of this paper is to determine how airline alliances effect consumer welfare. The results show that airline alliances lead to higher fares on domestic routes as well as greater passenger revenue miles and available seat utilization. This paper shows that more anti-trust investigation should be taking place regarding airline alliances. / Thesis (BS) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. Carroll School of Management. / Discipline: College Honors Program. / Discipline: Finance.

Thesis advisor: James E. Cronin / This dissertation examines British nuclear policymaking during the late 1970s and early 1980s with a focus on its political implications. Highlighting the important link between nuclear politics and alliance coordination, the dissertation demonstrates that at a time of increased Alliance disunity (over Vietnam, détente, etc.) NATO policymakers achieved a broad consensus on theater nuclear policy that in effect stabilized the Alliance against the crises of the 1970s. The dissertation focuses especially on the U.K.’s role in this; British policymakers’ unique ability to mediate between the U.S. and continental Europe contributed enormously to the success of NATO in this period. Taking the British decision to update its strategic nuclear weapons and the coterminous debates in NATO over theater nuclear weapons, carried out against the backdrop of heightened public opposition and debate, it argues that nuclear politics played an integral role in structuring alliances and that this recalibration not only precipitated the end of the Cold War, but also ensured the Alliance’s post-Cold War viability. This research revises our understanding of the Cold War. This dissertation demonstrates that the Cold War, traditionally regarded as a bipolar conflict between superpowers, was often waged through alliances and that the policy preferences of lesser alliance partners mattered tremendously. The dissertation, furthermore, provides evidence for the way in which British policymakers retained an unexpected and disproportionate influence for the U.K. in world affairs—via their ability to successfully mediate within NATO

As empresas enfrentam hoje um ambiente complexo e altamente competitivo, com os consumidores cada vez mais exigentes e os ciclos de vida dos produtos cada vez menores. Para reagir a estas forças, são necessárias mudanças radicais nas organizações, de forma a tornarem as empresas mais competitivas. Entretanto, os recursos e competências para que isto ocorra são frequentemente difíceis de serem obtidos por uma única empresa. Neste contexto, para se manterem competitivas, as empresas buscaram juntar esforços para conseguirem uma maior coordenação e colaboração entre os parceiros na cadeia de suprimentos em uma abordagem chamada Gerenciamento da Cadeia de Suprimentos (Supply Chain Management). Na literatura estudada, enquanto vários autores afirmaram que uma maior integração entre as empresas participantes de uma cadeia resulta em melhores desempenhos para estas empresas, outros mostraram que os benefícios dessa integração não puderam ser confirmados. Por outro lado, alguns autores afirmaram que os benefícios deveriam ocorrer por toda a cadeia e não apenas para algumas empresas participantes. Neste contexto, torna-se claro a importância da mensuração do desempenho, tanto das empresas como das cadeias as quais elas pertencem, e também relacioná-lo com o nível de integração da cadeia. Assim, este presente trabalho estudou a relação entre a integração da cadeia de suprimentos e o desempenho, tanto das empresas isoladamente quanto da cadeia como um todo, de empresas nacionais de grande porte. O presente estudo é do tipo quantitativo e descritivo, utilizando o método de levantamento (survey) transversal auto-administrado, onde o questionário ficou disponível on line. Foram estudadas 135 empresas, de 13 setores diferentes, selecionadas por uma amostragem não-probabilística por julgamento. Os dados obtidos foram analisados de duas formas: na primeira forma foi utilizada a Análise Fatorial (para reduzir os número de variáveis) seguido pela análise por Regressão Linear (para verificar a relação entre os constructos) e na segunda forma a análise foi realizada pela técnica de Modelagem de Equações Estruturais (Structural Equation Modeling - SEM). Foram propostas três hipóteses a serem verificadas - Hipótese 1 (H1): Existe uma relação positiva entre integração da cadeia de suprimentos e desempenho organizacional individual; Hipótese 2 (H2): Existe uma relação positiva entre integração da cadeia de suprimentos e desempenho global da cadeia de suprimentos e a Hipótese 3 (H3): Existe uma relação positiva entre desempenho organizacional individual e desempenho global da cadeia de suprimentos. Como resultado final, as três hipóteses foram confirmadas, tanto pela Análise de Regressão, quanto pela Modelagem de Equações Estruturais. Também verificou-se o comportamento dos três constructos de acordo com os setores estudados. Observou-se a existência de diferença de entre os setores apenas para o constructo \"integração da cadeia de suprimentos\". Assim, os setores estudados são estatisticamente semelhantes nos constructos \"desempenho individual\" e \"desempenho da cadeia de suprimentos\". / Today, companies face a complex and highly competitive environment, with consumers increasingly more demanding and products life cycles shrinking. To fight these forces, radical changes are needed in organizations in order to make companies more competitive. However, the resources and skills for this are often difficult to obtain by a single company. In this context, to remain competitive, companies have joined efforts to achieve greater coordination and collaboration among supply chain partners in an approach called Supply Chain Management. The literature, while several authors stated that further integration among the companies of a chain results in better performance for them, others have shown that the benefits of integration could not be confirmed. On the other hand, some authors stated that the benefits should occur throughout the chain and not just for some participating companies. In this context, it is clear the importance of performance measurement, both businesses and chains which they belong, and also relate it to the level of integration of the chain. Thus, this present work studied the relationship between supply chain integration and performance, both individually and corporate chain as a whole, of large national companies. This study is quantitative and descriptive, using the method of transverse self-administered survey, that the questionnaire was available online. We studied 135 companies from 13 different sectors, selected by a non-probability sampling for trial. Data obtained were analyzed in two ways: first a Factor Analysis was used (to reduce the number of variables) followed by linear regression analysis (to check the relationship between the constructs) and the second way the analysis was performed using the technique Structural Equation Modeling - SEM. We proposed three hypotheses to be verified - Hypothesis 1 (H1): There is a positive relationship between supply chain integration of organizational and individual performance; Hypothesis 2 (H2): There is a positive relationship between supply chain integration and overall performance of the chain supply and Hypothesis 3 (H3): There is a positive relationship between individual organizational performance and global performance of the supply chain. As a final result, the three hypotheses were confirmed, both by Regression Analysis, and by Structural Equation Modeling. It was observed the behavior of the three constructs according to the sectors studied. It was observed that there are differences between sectors only for the construct \"integration of the supply chain.\" Thus, the sectors studied are statistically similar in constructs \"individual performance\" and \"supply chain performance.\"

by Ng Ka-Hing. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 37-40). / ABSTRACT --- p.iii / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iv / CHAPTER / Chapter I. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter II. --- REVIEW OF LITERATURE --- p.3 / Chapter III. --- METHODOLOGY - THE PARTNER SELECTION MODEL & CRITERIA --- p.9 / Chapter IV. --- THE HONG KONG ELECTRIC UTILITY -THE CASE STUDY --- p.13 / Chapter V. --- THE EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE SHOWN BY THE CASE STUDY… --- p.19 / Chapter VI. --- DISCUSSIONS & CONCLUSIONS --- p.34 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.37

An interaction dynamics perspective conceives the cooperation process as an action chain consisting of the actions and reactions between cooperating partners when they respond to disruptive events. The action chain is characterized by three constructs: action acquiescence, action simplicity, and action reciprocity. I further develop an action pattern model that clarifies the relationships among partner relation, governance structure, action pattern, and cooperation performance in a partnership. / Extant literature in strategic alliance has inconsistent conclusions on why some cases of cooperation succeed but some fail. I argue that the interaction process in cooperation may be the missing piece in the puzzle. Drawing on an interaction dynamics perspective, this dissertation examines what factors affect the interaction process and how variations of the interaction process affect cooperation performance. / In the second study, a questionnaire survey was conducted and a sample of 263 construction projects was obtained. The regression analysis indicated that partner relation affected action pattern, and this effect was moderated by governance structure. Contrary to conventional belief that action pattern mediates the effect of partner relation on cooperation performance, I found that action pattern and partner relation affected cooperation performance independently. / The action pattern model was empirically tested in the dyadic partnership between architects and contractors in two related studies. In the first study, qualitative data from 12 construction partnerships were collected through semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, and documents between architects and contractors. Overall, the case studies provided some "thick descriptions" of the action repertoire in cooperation. Results showed that cooperating partners adopted particular actions as deliberate strategic signaling to each other and as a means of reward/punishment. Moreover, actions tended to stabilize after repeated interaction cycles as cooperating partners categorized each other into specific portraits. / The interaction dynamics approach provides a new and promising perspective to study inter-firm cooperation. This dissertation suggests that how process unfolds in cooperation is crucial for cooperation success and carefully "matched" alliance may fail without appropriate management of the interaction process. / Lui Siu-yun Steven. / "August 2000." / Adviser: Ngo Hang-Yue. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 61-08, Section: A, page: 3253. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 141-156). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest dissertations and theses, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.

This dissertation explores the multifaceted life of Kurt Birrenbach as a window into the historical evolution of a Liberal German Atlanticism during the post-World War II era. While tracing the development of this Atlanticism into a "mature," establishment phenomenon, themes addressed include the founding and financing of an elaborate infrastructure, the creation of extensive political networks also stretching abroad, the execution of ambitious public relations actions, and distinct tendencies towards geographic and thematic expansion. Those challenges confronting Atlanticism in the Federal Republic, among them the persistence of Conservative Abendland perspectives and, later, the rise on the Left of interrelated pacifist, anti-nuclear and environmental movements, are touched upon as well. The broader historiographical issues examined encompass postwar continuity and discontinuity in the Federal Republic, processes of Americanization, the functioning of transnational networks, the impact of generational change, and the political engagement of West German business.