What they do matters: linking strategic alliance dissolution to its tasks

Abstract

This study uses the event history method to analyze the strategic alliances created by semiconductor start-ups founded in the 1980s. The findings suggest the dialectical relationship between the alliance task environment and the time-dependent possibility of alliance dissolution. Generally, alliances that operate under more adversarial task environment have higher dissolution hazards in early years. But they have lower dissolution hazard after a certain period of time than those operating under less adversarial task environment. By controlling the effect of change in resource dependence on alliance dissolution, the results show the pivotal role of alliance tasks in addition to widely used resource dependence explanations. This study enriches theories on strategic alliance by introducing a time-dependent logic to explanations of alliance dynamics. While the current strategic alliance literature is dominated by perspectives explaining alliance formation, this study indicates much can be understood about alliances by contemplating the issues of alliance dissolution.