Behavioral perspectives

Chapter 4 presents behavioral perspectives relevant to cooperative strategy. These perspectives are relational signaling theory, attention-based view, justice theory, and sociological views (social network, social exchange). They complement the more traditional economic, organizational, and managerial perspectives by explaining the effects of a set of relational, cognitive, and social-psychological factors on the formation, governance, and management of strategic alliances. A major theme is that trust is an essential component of social order in cooperation. Trust between partner firms facilitates social exchange, and its value is widely appreciated by the managers of strategic alliances. This chapter examines the significance of trust, its multi-level nature and foundations, followed by a discussion of how trust evolves with alliance development. The chapter closes with a discussion of practical ways through which trust can be enhanced in alliances.