Trust in Strategic Alliances: Antecedents and Consequences

The research in this book aimed to understand the effect of trust on the performance of strategic alliances. In particular, antecedents and consequences of trust were investigated. Past research shows that failure rates of strategic alliances are high, and one reason for failure can be a lack of trust between partners. The study investigated how to develop trust within a strategic alliance, and focused on the importance of networks, type of alliance, organisational similarity, and other activities such as communication and information exchange, fairness preservation and inter-firm adaptation. The relationship between trust and performance was also examined in this book. The study examined all of these issues by interviewing strategic alliance managers, and found that trust was important in developing and managing a strategic alliance. This research is useful for managers considering establishing a strategic alliance, and for academics who are interested in the research area of trust in strategic alliances.