Title: Towards a new form of governance for inter-firm cooperation? Lessons from the Renault-Nissan Alliance

Authors: Blanche Segrestin

Addresses: Ecole des Mines de Paris, CGS, Service Financier, 60, Bld St Michel, 75272 Paris Cedex 06, France

Abstract: The Renault-Nissan Alliance is representative of forthcoming challenges of inter-firm cooperation. Based on an in-depth case study on this case, the paper expands the evolutionary perspective to examine the processes through which the firms jointly investigate their potential partners to build business opportunities. This exploratory process can either come to a standstill or end up in a merger or in other form of alliance. In order to learn potential common projects and the possible form of governance, firms need to manage simultaneously the coordination and the cohesion mechanisms. The paper also discusses the relevance of a special form of governance to provide firms with an appropriate legal framework.

Keywords: inter-firm cooperation; innovation; platform; automobile industry; Renault-Nissan Alliance; exploration; coordination; governance; cohesion; legal framework; mergers; strategic alliances; joint ventures; mergers; acquisitions; automotive alliances.

DOI: 10.1504/IJATM.2006.009527

International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management, 2006 Vol.6 No.2, pp.199 - 213

Published online: 18 Apr 2006 *

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