Title: Successful horizontal alliances between competitors: evidence from the automobile industry

Authors: Susanne Royer

Addresses: Institute of Organization and International Management, University of Paderborn, 33098 Paderborn, Germany

Abstract: This paper presents a theoretical framework to analyse horizontal competitive cooperation. This framework integrates findings from different academic fields. Hypotheses about the relationship of several organisational conditions and the success of such partnerships are developed on the basis of organisational theories. The integration of these aspects leads to an innovative model based on three pillars, i.e. a modified framework from political sciences combined with findings from management research and considerations from organisation theory. This framework has been applied to the reality of cooperating companies in a case study analysis of 12 cooperative agreements between automobile companies. The result is a comprehensive framework to analyse horizontal competitive collaboration. Based on this framework, pragmatic conditions to design successful horizontal competitive collaboration are developed [2].

Keywords: horizontal alliances between competitors; successful alliance design; case studies; automobile industry.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHRDM.2002.001040

International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management, 2002 Vol.2 No.3/4, pp.445-462

Published online: 18 Aug 2003 *

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