How alliance partner characteristics can affect performance? An empirical evidence from emerging economies context

The growth of alliances in developing countries has generated significant interest among scholars. Forming alliance is a reliable solution for companies based in developing countries to gain an advantage in international markets. Most of the previous studies present generic models or sets of characteristics for partner selection. In contrast, the current study suggests the partner characteristics which alliances' leaders should care about to be financially prosperous in international markets. Grounded in the resource-based view and review of recent studies, the theoretical framework of partner characteristics consisted of 13 variables. The data was gathered from Iranian alliances and analyses were done through the principal component and multiple regression analyses. The findings stress the importance of cognitive capability and knowledge stock as the most effective partner characteristics in export performance of alliances. Specifically, results introduce a framework that addresses why managers select partners with certain, specific characteristics to improve the export performance of alliances.