A Process View of Alliance Capability: Generating Value in Alliance Portfolios

This paper investigates the source of heterogeneity in the distribution of alliance capabilities among firms, and relates it to business processes that enable firms to generate collaborative value. Complementing the existing view of dyadic value creation, and the emerging experience and structural perspectives of alliance capabilities, we argue the importance of examining such a capability through the lens of organizational processes. Based on a theoretical framework of collaborative rents, we identify three processes - namely alliance proactiveness, relational orientation and portfolio coordination as constituting such a capability. Using data from 235 firms, and controlling for alliance experience and the presence of a dedicated alliance function, we show that the three processes play an important role in enhancing a firm's alliance portfolio capital. Further, we find that the alliance portfolio capital has a positive impact on firm performance. Thus we find evidence of heterogeneity in deriving value from alliance portfolios through an alliance capability emanating from organizational processes.