Strategic alliance formation and the effects on the performance of manufacturing enterprises from supply chain perspective

Abstract

This study examines the antecedents of strategic alliance formation in manufacturing firms in China, the alliance effect on innovation capability and dyadic quality performance, and how these two organisational capabilities are related to the supply chain performance of Chinese manufacturing enterprises in Shanghai. We perform a series of statistical techniques including logistic regression analysis, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and multiple regression analysis for assessing the hypothesised relationships. Our findings indicate that relational stability and effective communication are significant antecedent factors influencing strategic alliance formation among Chinese manufacturing enterprises. Such alliance formation is found to benefit innovation capability and dyadic quality performance, which are significant contributors to the supply chain performance of Chinese manufacturers. We provide important theoretical and practical implications on these antecedents and consequences of strategic alliance formation leading to supply chain performance in the Chinese manufacturing context.

Keywords:

• alliance formation
• supply chain
• innovation capability
• dyadic quality performance
• Chinese manufacturing

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Editor, the Associate Editor, and the four anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments to earlier versions of this manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

Funding. The paper was supported by National Social Science Fund of China [grant number 12&ZD098], National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 70972108] and Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars [grant number LR12G02001]. Lai is partially supported by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (GRF 5449/10H).