DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

The Effect of Performance Feedback on Firms' Decision to Form an International Strategic Alliance and Performance in the Korean Manufacturing Industry

  • Han, Sang-yun (Department of Industrial Distribution, Kongju National University)
  • Received : 2021.03.24
  • Accepted : 2021.06.18
  • Published : 2021.10.31

Abstract

Purpose - International strategic alliance has been regarded as a strategic decision made by firms' managerial problems and ensure performance growth. From the perspective of the proactive behavior for changing strategies in a global market, this study aims to identify whether performance feedback influences firms' decisions to pursue strategic alliances. This study examines the effects of performance feedback on performance when firms use strategic alliances. Design/methodology - To analyze the impact of performance feedback on forming an international strategic alliance, this study adopt the concept of performance feedback to develop a research model and our hypotheses. Thus, this study used a two-stage least squares unbalanced panel data analysis with random effects. This study is based on 24,543 observations from Korean manufacturing firms from 2007 to 2016. Findings - The results show that firms pursue the formation of strategic alliances more actively, if their past financial and R&D performance are lower than their aspiration level, based on the result of performance feedback. An in split sample analysis for examining the effect of a firm's technology sophistication based on the OECD's classification, negative innovation performance discrepancy has positive effects on the probability of international alliance in high-tech and medium-high-tech industries. Financial performance also improves when a firm decides to form a strategic alliance based on the results of performance feedback. Originality/value - This research extends recent efforts to better understand the effect of performance feedback on firms' performance when they use strategic alliances. These findings suggest that the CEOs and managers of firms should consider the performance feedback perspective when deciding to pursue a strategic alliance to improve performance. In other words, the decision-makers in a firm must analyze and consider various complex variables inside and outside the firm and expand such subjects of examination to more complex and dynamic factors.

Keywords

References

  1. Abrahamson, E. (1996), "Management fashion", Academy of Management Review, 21(1), 254-285. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMR.1996.9602161572
  2. Abrahamson, E., and Fairchild, G. (1999), "Management fashion: Lifecycles, triggers, and collective learning processes", Administrative science quarterly, 44(4), 708-740. https://doi.org/10.2307/2667053
  3. Ahuja, G. and Morris Lampert, C. (2001), "Entrepreneurship in a large corporation: a longitudinal study of how established firms create breakthrough inventions", Strategic Management Journal, 22(6-7), 521-543. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.176
  4. Amabile, T. M. (1988), "A model of creativity and innovation in organizations", Straw B.M. and Cummings L. (Eds.), Research and Organizational Behavior, 10(1), 123-167.
  5. Audia, P. G., and Brion, S. (2007), "Reluctant to change: Self-enhancing responses to diverging performance measures", Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 102(2), 255-269. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2006.01.007
  6. Audia, P.G., Brion, S. and Greve, H.R. (2015), "Self-assessment, self-enhancement, and the choice of comparison organizations for evaluating organizational performance", In Cognition and Strategy, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
  7. Barney, J.B. (1991), "Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage", Journal of Management, 17(1), 99-120. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920639101700108
  8. Barney, J.B., and Wright, P.M. (1998), "On becoming a strategic partner: the role of human resources in gaining competitive advantage", Human Resource Management, 37(1), 31-46. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-050X(199821)37:1<31::AID-HRM4>3.0.CO;2-W
  9. Baum, J. A., Rowley, T. J., Shipilov, A. V. and Chuang, Y. T. (2005), "Dancing with strangers: aspiration performance and the search for underwriting syndicate partners", Administrative Science Quarterly, 50(4), 536-575. https://doi.org/10.2189/asqu.50.4.536
  10. Beamish, P. W., and Jung, J. C. (2005), "The performance and survival of joint ventures with parents of asymmetric size", Management International, 10(1), 19-30.
  11. Becheikh, N., Landry, R., and Amara, N. (2006), "Lessons from innovation empirical studies in the manufacturing sector: A systematic review of the literature from 1993-2003", Technovation, 26(5), 644-664. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.technovation.2005.06.016
  12. Belderbos, R., Carree, M. and Lokshin, B. (2004), "Cooperative R&D and firm performance", Research Policy, 33(10), 1477-1492. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2004.07.003
  13. Biddle, G. C., and Hilary, G. (2006), "Accounting quality and firm-level capital investment", The accounting review, 81(5), 963-982. https://doi.org/10.2308/accr.2006.81.5.963
  14. Blettner, D. P., He, Z. L., Hu, S., and Bettis, R. A. (2015), "Adaptive aspirations and performance heterogeneity: Attention allocation among multiple reference points", Strategic Management Journal, 36(7), 987-1005. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2260
  15. Bromiley, P. (1991), "Testing a causal model of corporate risk taking and performance", Academy of Management Journal, 34, 37-59. https://doi.org/10.2307/256301
  16. Bromiley, P., and Harris, J. D. (2014), "A comparison of alternative measures of organizational aspirations", Strategic Management Journal, 35(3), 338-357. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2191
  17. Buckley, P. J., Glaister, K. W., Klijn, E. and Tan, H. (2009), "Knowledge accession and knowledge acquisition in strategic alliances: the impact of supplementary and complementary dimensions", British Journal of Management, 20(4), 598-609. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8551.2008.00607.x
  18. Cassiman, B. and R. Veugelers (2006), "In search of complementarity in innovation strategy: internal R&D and external knowledge acquisition", Management of Science, 52(1), 68-82. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.1050.0470
  19. Chandler Jr, A. D. (1962), Strategy and Structure: Chapters in the History of the American Industrial Enterprise, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
  20. Chiao, Y., Yu, C. J., and Peng, J. A. (2009), "Partner nationality, market-focus and IJV performance: a contingent approach", Journal of World Business, 44(3), 238-249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2008.08.008
  21. Choi, Jeong-Ho (2020), "Mitigating the challenges of partner knowledge diversity while enhancing research & development (R&D) alliance performance: the role of alliance governance mechanisms", Journal of Product Innovation Management, 37(1), 26-47. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpim.12505
  22. Christoffersen, J. (2013), "A review of antecedents of international strategic alliance performance: synthesized evidence and new directions for core constructs", International Journal of Management Reviews, 15(1), 66-85. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2370.2012.00335.x
  23. Cohen, W. M., Nelson, R. R. and Walsh, J. P. (2000), Protecting their intellectual assets: appropriability conditions and why US manufacturing firms patent (or not), NBER Working Paper(7552), National Bureau of Economic Research.
  24. Contractor, F. J. and Lorange, P. (1988), "Why Should Firms Cooperate? The Strategy and Economics Basis for Cooperative Ventures", in F. J. Contractor and P. Lorange (Eds.), Cooperative Strategies in International Business: Joint Ventures and Technology Partnerships between Firms, Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
  25. Cuervo-Cazurra, A., M. J. Nieto, and A. Rodriguez. (2018), "The impact of R&D sources on new product development: sources of funds and the diversity versus control of knowledge debate", Long Range Planning, 51(5), 649-65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2017.06.004
  26. Cummings, T. G. (1984), "Transorganizational development", Research in Organizational Behavior, 6, 367-422.
  27. Cyert, R. M. and March, J. G. (1963), A Behavioral Theory of the Firm, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
  28. Deeds, D. L. and Hill, C. W. (1996), "Strategic alliances and the rate of new product development: an empirical study of entrepreneurial biotechnology firms", Journal of Business Venturing, 11(1), 41-55. https://doi.org/10.1016/0883-9026(95)00087-9
  29. Doz, Y. L., Olk, P. M. and Ring, P. S. (2000), "Formation processes of R&D consortia: which path to take? where does it lead?", Strategic Management Journal, 21(3), 239-266. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-0266(200003)21:3<239::AID-SMJ97>3.0.CO;2-K
  30. Dyer, J. H. and Singh, H. (1998), "The relational view: cooperative strategy and sources of interorganizational competitive advantage", Academy of Management Review, 23(4), 660-679. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMR.1998.1255632
  31. Eggers, J. P. (2012), "Falling flat failed technologies and investment under uncertainty", Administrative Science Quarterly, 57(1), 47-80. https://doi.org/10.1177/0001839212447181
  32. Escribano, A., Fosfuri, A. and Tribo, J. A. (2009), "Managing external knowledge flows: the moderating role of absorptive capacity", Research Policy, 38(1), 96-105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2008.10.022
  33. Fonseka, M. M., Tian, G. L. and Li, L. C. (2014), "Impact of financial capability on firms' competitiveness and sustainability", Chinese Management Studies, 8(4), 593-623. https://doi.org/10.1108/CMS-09-2011-0066
  34. Galindo-Rueda, F. and Verger, F. (2016), OECD taxonomy of economic activities based on R&D intensity, OECD Science, Technology and Industry Working Papers(2016/4, OECD, Paris.
  35. Gaba, V., and Bhattacharya, S. (2012), "Aspirations, innovation, and corporate venture capital: A behavioral perspective", Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 6(2), 178-199. https://doi.org/10.1002/sej.1133
  36. George, G., Zahra, S. A., Wheatley, K. K. and Khan, R. (2001), "The effects of alliance portfolio characteristics and absorptive capacity on performance: a study of biotechnology firms", The Journal of High Technology Management Research, 12(2), 205-226. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1047-8310(01)00037-2
  37. Gomes, E., Barnes, B. R. and Mahmood, T. (2016), "A 22 year review of strategic alliance research in the leading management journals", International Business Review, 25(1), 15-27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2014.03.005
  38. Gompers P, Lerner J. (2004), The Venture Capital Cycle (2nd edn), MIT Press: Cambridge, MA.
  39. Grant, R. M. and Baden-Fuller, C. (2004), "A knowledge accessing theory of strategic alliances", Journal of Management Studies, 41(1), 61-84. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2004.00421.x
  40. Greve, H. R. (1998), "Managerial cognition and the mimetic adoption of market positions: what you see is what you do", Strategic Management Journal, 19(10), 967-988. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-0266(199810)19:10<967::AID-SMJ981>3.0.CO;2-L
  41. Greve, H. R. (2003a), "A behavioral theory of R&D expenditures and innovations: evidence from shipbuilding", Academy of Management Journal, 46(6), 685-702. https://doi.org/10.2307/30040661
  42. Greve, H. R. (2003b), Organizational Learning from Performance Feedback: A Behavioral Perspective on Innovation and Change, Cambridge University Press.
  43. Greve, H. R. (2007), "Exploration and exploitation in product innovation". Industrial and Corporate Change, 16(5), 945-975. https://doi.org/10.1093/icc/dtm013
  44. Greve, H. R. (2011), "Positional rigidity: low performance and resource acquisition in large and small firms", Strategic Management Journal, 32(1), 103-114. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.875
  45. Greve, H. R. and Gaba, V. (2017), Performance feedback in organizations and groups: Common themes, The Oxford handbook of group and organizational learning, 1-45.
  46. Gulati, R. (1998), "Alliances and networks", Strategic Management Journal, 19(4), 293-317. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-0266(199804)19:4<293::AID-SMJ982>3.0.CO;2-M
  47. He, Q., Meadows, M., Angwin, D., Gomes, E. and Child, J. (2020), "Strategic alliance research in the era of digital transformation: perspectives on future research", British Journal of Management, 31(3), 589-617. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.12406
  48. Hoskisson, R. E., Chirico, F., Zyung, J. Y., and Gambeta, E. (2017), "Managerial risk taking: A multitheoretical review and future research agenda", Journal of Management, 43(1), 137-169. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206316671583
  49. Jarillo, J. (1988), "On strategic networks", Strategic Management Journal, 9(1), 31-41. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.4250090104
  50. Jiang, X., F. Jiang, A. Arino and M. W. Peng (2017), "Uncertainty, adaptation, and alliance performance", IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 64(4), 605-615. https://doi.org/10.1109/TEM.2017.2713823
  51. Jiang, X., Jiang, F., Cai, X. and Liu, H. (2015), "How does trust affect alliance performance? The mediating role of resource sharing", Industrial Marketing Management, 45, 128-138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2015.02.011
  52. Jiang, X., Jiang, F., Sheng, S. and Wang, G. (2020), "A moderated mediation model linking entrepreneurial orientation to strategic alliance performance", British Journal of Management, https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.12428.
  53. Joseph, J., and Gaba, V. (2015), "The fog of feedback: Ambiguity and firm responses to multiple aspiration level", Strategic Management Journal, 36(13), 1960-1978. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2333
  54. Joseph, J., Klingebiel, R. and Wilson, A. J. (2016), "Organizational structure and performance feedback: centralization, aspirations, and termination decisions", Organization Science, 27(5), 1065-1083. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2016.1076
  55. Kang, Seong-Ho, Su-Bin, Im and Heung-soo, Park (2018), "Moderating roles of national culture for alliance relationship advantages and performance in Asia", Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing, 25(3), 233-249. https://doi.org/10.1080/1051712X.2018.1488914
  56. Katila, R. and Mang, P. Y. (2003), "Exploiting technological opportunities: the timing of collaborations", Research Policy, 32(2), 317-332. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0048-7333(02)00102-6
  57. Kim, Ji-Yub(Jay), Finkelstein, S., and Haleblian, J. (2015), "All aspirations are not created equal: The differential effects of historical and social aspirations on acquisition behavior", Academy of Management Journal, 58(5), 1361-1388. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2012.1102
  58. Kogut, B. and Zander, U. (1992), "Knowledge of the firm, combinative capabilities, and the replication of technology", Organization Science, 3(3), 383-397. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.3.3.383
  59. Kohtamaki, M., Rabetino, R. and Moller, K. (2018), "Alliance capabilities: a systematic review and future research directions", Industrial Marketing Management, 68, 188-201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2017.10.014
  60. Kostopoulos, K., Papalexandris, A., Papachroni, M., and Ioannou, G. (2011), "Absorptive capacity, innovation, and financial performance", Journal of Business Research, 64(12), 1335-1343. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2010.12.005
  61. Kortum S. (1993), "Equilibrium R&D and the patent-R&D ratio: U.S. evidence", American Economic Review, 83(2), 450-457.
  62. Kotiloglu, S., Chen, Y., and Lechler, T. (2021), "Organizational responses to performance feedback: A meta-analytic review", Strategic Organization, 19(2), 285-311. https://doi.org/10.1177/1476127019883361
  63. Laursen, K. and Salter, A. (2006), "Open for innovation: the role of openness in explaining innovation performance among UK manufacturing firms", Strategic Management Journal, 27(2), 131-150. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.507
  64. Lee, Joong-Woo, Abosag, I. and Joo-Young, Kwak (2012), "The role of networking and commitment in foreign market entry process: multinational corporations in the Chinese automobile industry", International Business Review, 21(1), 27-39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2011.10.002
  65. Lee, Byoung-Ho, Hwang-Hee, Cho and June-Seuk, Shin (2015), "The relationship between inbound open innovation patents and financial performance: Evidence from global information technology companies", Asian journal of technology innovation, 23(3), 289-303. https://doi.org/10.1080/19761597.2015.1120497
  66. Levinthal, D., and March, J. G. (1981), "A model of adaptive organizational search", Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2(4), 307-333. https://doi.org/10.1016/0167-2681(81)90012-3
  67. Levitt, B., and March, J. G. (1988), "Organizational learning", Annual Review of Sociology, 14(1), 319-340. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.so.14.080188.001535
  68. Lu, L. H., and Wong, P. K. (2019), "Performance feedback, financial slack and the innovation behavior of firms", Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 36(4), 1079-1109. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-018-9634-4
  69. Lucas, G. J. M., Knoben, J., and Meeus, M. T. H. (2018), "Contradictory yet coherent? Inconsistency in performance feedback and R&D investment change", Journal of Management, 44(2), 658-681. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206315584821
  70. March, J. G. (1988), "Variable risk preferences and adaptive aspirations", Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 9(1), 5-24. https://doi.org/10.1016/0167-2681(88)90004-2
  71. Miotti, L. and Sachwald, F. (2003), "Co-operative R&D: why and with whom? an integrated framework of analysis", Research Policy, 32(8), 1481-1499. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0048-7333(02)00159-2
  72. Nielsen, B. B. and Gudergan, S. (2012), "Exploration and exploitation fit and performance in international strategic alliances", International Business Review, 21(4), 558-574. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2011.07.001
  73. O'Brien, J. P. and David, P. (2014), "Reciprocity and R&D search: applying the behavioral theory of the firm to a communitarian context", Strategic Management Journal, 35(4), 550-565. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2105
  74. Pavitt, K. (1984), "Sectoral patterns of technical change: towards a taxonomy and a theory", Technology, Management and Systems of Innovation, 13(6), 343-373.
  75. Penrose, E. (1959), The Theory of the Growth of the Firm, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  76. Posen, H. E., Keil, T., Kim, S. and Meissner, F. D. (2018), "Renewing research on problemistic search-a review and research agenda", Academy of Management Annals, 12(1), 208-251. https://doi.org/10.5465/annals.2016.0018
  77. Powell, W. W., (1990), "Neither market nor hierarchy: network forms of organization", Research in Organizational Behavior, 12(2), 295-336.
  78. Prahalad, C. and Hamel, G. (1990), "The core competence of the corporation", Harvard Business Review, 68, 79-91.
  79. Ref, O. and Shapira, Z. (2017), "Entering new markets: the effect of performance feedback near aspiration and well below and above it", Strategic Management Journal, 38(7), 1416-1434. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2561
  80. Russo, M. and Cesarani, M. (2017), "Strategic alliance success factors: a literature review on alliance lifecycle", International Journal of Business Administration, 8(3), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.5430/ijba.v8n3p1
  81. Schimmer, M., and Brauer, M. (2012), "Firm performance and aspiration levels as determinants of a firm's strategic repositioning within strategic group structures", Strategic Organization, 10(4), 406-435. https://doi.org/10.1177/1476127012457983
  82. Shakeri, R. and Radfar, R. (2017), "Antecedents of strategic alliances performance in biopharmaceutical industry: a comprehensive model", Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 122, 289-302. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2016.01.003
  83. Simon H. A. (1964), "On the concept of organizational goal", Administrative Science Quarterly, 9(1), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.2307/2391519
  84. Simon H. A. (1997), Administrative Behavior: A Study of Decision-Making Processes in Administrative Organization, New York: Macmillan.
  85. Sklyar, A., Kowalkowski, C., Tronvoll, B. and Sorhammar, D. (2019), "Organizing for digital servitization: a service ecosystem perspective", Journal of Business Research, 104, 450-460. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.02.012
  86. Spithoven, A. and Teirlinck, P. (2015), "Internal capabilities, network resources and appropriation mechanisms as determinants of R&D outsourcing", Research Policy, 44(3)), 711-725. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2014.10.013
  87. Steensma, H. K. and Fairbank, J. F. (1999), "Internalizing external technology: a model of governance mode choice and an empirical assessment", Journal of High Technology Management Research, 10(1), 1-35. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1047-8310(99)80001-7
  88. Su, Y.-S. and Vanhaverbeke, W. (2019), "How do different types of interorganizational ties matter in technological exploration?", Management Decision, 57(8), 2148-2176. https://doi.org/10.1108/md-06-2018-0713
  89. Tsai, W., Su, K. H. and Chen, M. J. (2011), "Seeing through the eyes of a rival: competitor acumen based on rival-centric perceptions", Academy of Management Journal, 54(4), 761-778. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMJ.2011.64870138
  90. Wade, M. and Hulland, J. (2004), "The resource-based view and information systems research: review, extension, and suggestions for future research", MIS Quarterly, 28(1), 107-142. https://doi.org/10.2307/25148626
  91. Washburn, M., and Bromiley, P. (2012), "Comparing aspiration models: The role of selective attention", Journal of Management Studies, 49(5): 896-917. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2011.01033.x
  92. Williamson, O. E. (1987), "Transaction cost economics: the comparative contracting perspective", Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 8(4), 617-625. https://doi.org/10.1016/0167-2681(87)90038-2
  93. Williamson, O. E. (1988), "Technology and transaction cost economics: a reply", Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 10(3), 355-363. https://doi.org/10.1016/0167-2681(88)90055-8
  94. Wissema, J. G. and Euser, L. (1991), "Successful innovation through inter-company networks", Long Range Planning, 24(6), 33-39. https://doi.org/10.1016/0024-6301(91)90041-L
  95. Woodridge, J. M. (2010), Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data, 2nd Edition.
  96. Vissa, B., Greve, H. R., and Chen, W. R. (2010), "Business group affiliation and firm search behavior in India: Responsiveness and focus of attention", Organization science, 21(3), 696-712. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1090.0475
  97. Xu, D., Zhou, K. Z. and Du, F. (2019), "Deviant versus aspirational risk taking: the effects of performance feedback on bribery expenditure and R&D intensity", Academy of Management Journal, 62(4), 1226-1251. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2016.0749
  98. Yang, Hang-Jin. Si-Hyung Kim, Se-Won Kim, and Dal-Won Kang (2019), "Does Partner Volatility Have Firm Value Relevance? An Empirical Analysis of Strategic Alliances", Journal of Korea Trade, 23(6), 145-158. https://doi.org/10.35611/jkt.2019.23.6.145
  99. Zhang, Y., and Gong, Y. (2018), "Stock Return or Sales Growth? Multiple Performance Feedback and Strategic Investments Under Securities Analysts' Earnings Pressure", Journal of Management Studies, 55(8), 1356-1385. https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12392