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.

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Concerns over the future of the nonprofit sector due to increasing resource pressures and an economic rationalist political climate in Australia have led to increasing public and private interest in partnerships between nonprofit organisations and the private sector. The purpose of this research is to describe, understand, map and analyse the experiences of nonprofit staff in organisations that are linked to businesses in a variety of funding relationships. The major questions that drove the research were: 1. Does the language used by nonprofit staff and in organisational documentation relating to relationships with for-profits reflect the status of and contribute to the reproduction of the power relationship between the organisations? 2. Do nonprofit/for-profit relationships affect the organisational capacity of nonprofit organisations and the social agency of individuals? If so, to what extent can balanced power-sharing arrangements contribute to increased organisational capacity? 3. Does the media aspect of the institutional context of relationships in which nonprofits operate affect the social agency of individuals and the capacity of nonprofits? The thesis presents a grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss 1967; Strauss & Corbin 1998) of language and power in inter-sectoral relationships, using five case studies, a media analysis and a quantitative component as the data from which to draw theoretical implications. The work develops an innovative methodological tool called 'linguistic threads' and uses Clegg's circuits of power model (1987) to culminate in static state and process theories of language and power in relationships between nonprofits and for-profits in the Australian context.

The subject of cross-border alliances, and of cooperative strategy generally, is one that has been growing in importance over the last ten to fifteen years, both for practitioners and for academics. The literature on the subject has increased substantially during this time but, as with all subjects that come into vogue, there is currently no generally agreed body of theory, or even terminology to assist the student in researching and understanding the subject. This thesis, which is exploratory in nature, seeks to contribute to the strategic alliance field by means of research aimed at identifying significant associations between formation conditions, management approaches and evolving decision making taken in the case study alliances and the effectiveness of those alliances as deemed by significant partner members. The concluding chapters present findings from the research, attempt to bring together the overall findings, and arrive at some general conclusions, especially certain implications for management. / Master of Commerce (Hons)

The research stream on interpartner learning in international strategic alliances has evolved in recent years. Although several research problems have been addressed, there remain gaps in the literature about the facilitators and outcomes of knowledge acquisition in international joint ventures. To bridge these gaps, this research has two main objectives. Firstly, it identifies various antecedents and tests their effects on the acquisition of marketing know-how by the local partner from the foreign partner. Secondly, it investigates how the acquired marketing know-how impacts on the learning outcomes in an IJV.The findings of this study show the effects of eight antecedents on the acquisition of tacit and explicit forms of marketing know-how. Research gaps have been bridged by this study in several ways. The thesis has also answered the call for empirical studies to provide statistical evidence with respect to inter-organizational learning in the international arena. It contributes new measurement scales as well as suggests effective ways of acquiring marketing knowledge from foreign partners in IJV. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 416-460).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Georgia State University, 2006. / 1 electronic text (111 p. : ill. (some col.)) : digital, PDF file. Title from title screen. Dr. Ben Oviatt, committee chair; Brett Anitra Gilbert, Detmar W. Straub, William C. Bogner, committee members. Description based on contents viewed Mar. 28, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 101-111).

Background Strategic alliances have become increasingly popular within the business world, they can be seen as a way to improve the total output of the firm. Over the last 10 years, the industry endured trying times, the most notable being the events of September 11, 2001. That event drastically changed airline traveling all across the world. It also showed the importance of collaborations in order to stay competitive. Star Alliance began in 1997 and has since then grown into the world’s largest airline alliance with a total market share of 25.1%. Purpose The raison d’être of this study is to quantify and analyze the augmentation of load factors over time, in terms of distribution, as they pertain to capacity performance of allied carriers within Star Alliance. Method In order to fulfill the purpose, a deductive approach to the research has been taken. Furthermore, due to the nature of the data, a quantitative approach has been used within. Two hypotheses will be stated and several research questions as well. Result It can be clearly seen that distribution of load factors has transformed during the years. There is a shift in both the skewness and the kurtosis of the distributions that can be seen when examining the frequency distribution charts. The kurtosis increases and the skew decreases, measures that are positive for the airlines, while the anomalies of 0% and 100% load factor have remained stable throughout the years. A general increase in the average load factors has also been seen. Conclusion By analyzing the empirical findings, it is clear that the load factor of the allied members has increased and that the proportion of the denied boardings decreased in relation to the average load factor. This means that the alternative hypothesis was accepted in the first hypothesis and that the second alternative hypothesis was accepted in the second hypothesis. The research also reveals a generally increased mean which together with the changes in the skew and kurtosis lead to an acceptance of the beta distribution. Furthermore, higher load factors were shown to have a strong correlation with the increase in efficiency and decrease in overselling.

La tesis se compone de dos partes. En la primera (capítulo dos) se presenta una extensión de un modelo de entrada "à la Dixit". Se considera un marco en el que las decisiones de entrada del líder pueden revelar información acerca de la rentabilidad de los mercados a un seguidor. En este contexto se caracteriza el comportamiento estratégico del líder. Asimismo, se demuestra que cuando la rentabilidad esperada de los mercados se situa a un nivel intermedio el líder opta por una estrategia de introducción secuencial con el fin de retrasar la entrada del competidor. Por el contrario, cuando la rentabilidad esperada de los mercados es menor, el líder tiende a introducirse en todos ellos al mismo tiempo, con el fin de evitar la entrada de la otra empresa. En la segunda parte de la tesis (capítulos 3 a 6) se estudia la manera en que las empresas organizan sus acuerdos de cooperación. En el capítulo 3 se proporciona una introducción al tema. En los capítulos 4 y 5 se presentan dos modelos teóricos. En el primero se utiliza un marco de contratos incompletos y se analiza el rol que el aprendizaje del know-how del partner juega en el desarrollo de dos modos de organización de alianzas estratégicas, esto es, Joint Ventures y acuerdos de contratos. Se demuestra que cuanto mayor es la asimetría en la capacidad de aprendizaje de las empresas, mejor es la Joint Venture. El modelo presentado en el capítulo 5 combina las herramientas y métodos de dos áreas de la literatura económica: inversión bajo incertidumbre y teoría de la búsqueda. El objetivo principal del modelo consiste en relacionar la forma de gobierno elegida por las empresas involucradas en la alianza con las características del sector en el que la alianza tiene lugar. Se demuestra que cuanto mayor es la incertidumbre a la que se enfrentan las empresas, mayor es la probabilidad de que elijan formas de gobierno más flexibles, como los acuerdos de contratos. El último capítulo se dedica a la investigación empírica del tema. Se contrastan algunas de las predicciones que pueden ser derivadas de los modelos presentados en los capítulos 4 y 5, así como aquellas que han sido destacadas en otros trabajos teóricos. / The thesis is composed of two distinct parts. In the first one (chapter 2), I present an extension of an entry model "à la Dixit". I consider a setting in which the entry decisions of the first mover might reveal information about the markets' profitability to a second entrant. In this context, I characterize the first mover's strategic behavior. I show that when priors about markets profitability are at an intermediate level, then the first mover enters them sequentially trying to delay the competitor's entry. On the contrary, when priors are lower, the first mover tends to enter all the markets at the same time trying to preempt the other firm. In the second part of the thesis (chapters 3,4,5,6), I consider the issue of the governance form of strategic alliances. That is, I study the way in which firms organize their cooperative arrangements. In chapter 3, there is a brief introduction to the topic. In chapters 4 and 5, I present two theoretical models. In the first one, I employ an incomplete contracts setting and I analyze the role of learning the partner's know-how on the performances of two typical modes of organizing strategic alliances, namely Joint Ventures and Contractual Agreements. I show that the more asymmetric firms' absorptive capacities are, the better a Joint Venture performs. The model of chapter 5 combines the tools and methods of two strands of economic literature: investment under uncertainty and search theory. The main objective of the model is that of relating the form of governance that partners choose for their alliance to the typology of the project undertaken and to the characteristics of the sector in which the alliance takes place. It is proved that the larger the uncertainty that partners face, the more likely that they choose more flexible forms of cooperation such as Contractual Agreements. The last chapter is devoted to an empirical assessment of the topic. I test some of the predictions that can be derived from the models of chapters 4 and 5 as well as those that have been put forward by other theoretical studies dealing with the same issue.