The Structuring of Strategic Alliances in the ICT-Industry: A Modelling Approach Using Selected Organisational Theories

This study examines what factors determine the choice of governance structure made by
alliance partners in the ICT-industry. First, the explanatory power of the transaction cost
theory, the resource-based view, the structural contingency approach, strategic choice theory,
resource dependence theory, organisational ecology and principal agent theory to answer this
question is surveyed. A deeper analysis using transaction cost theory, resource-based view
and structural contingency approach is employed to develop three models of alliance
structuring. Propositions related to the models are then tested on a sample of 101 strategic
alliances in the ICT-industry. The findings suggest that there exist five influential factors: (1)
the existence of alliance-specific investment by the partners, (2) the number of functional
areas contained by the alliance, (3) a limited duration of the alliance, (4) the type of resources
contributed by the partners, and (5) uncertainty of the tasks of the alliance. These factors are
then recombined to form one integrated model. The success of this approach and the
usefulness of such a modelling approach in general are discussed alongside future directions
for research.