Entering into strategic alliances: an empirical test of the direct and interaction effects of managers' attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control

Abstract

Extant research has largely ignored the role that managers play in alliance formation. On the basis of the theory of planned behavior, the author examines the determinants of the direct causes of managerial intention, and whether or not the policy variables influence managerial intentions. Behavioral beliefs pertaining to competitive advantage interacted with the managers' evaluation of the motives for alliance formation. Hypotheses testing was performed using multiple regression and hierarchical regression analysis. Limitations and future research is presented.

Keywords:

• alliances
• theory of planned behavior
• institutional theory
• structural equation modeling

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Dr Richard Bagozzi, Dr Rajan Varadarajan, and the anonymous reviewers for their kind feedback and suggestions.

Notes

1. While the research reported focuses on marketing alliances, the terms alliances, strategic alliances and marketing alliances are used interchangeably in this article.