Domestic alliance network to attract foreign partners: Evidence from international joint ventures in China

Partner selection is a critical issue in building international joint ventures (IJVs). We argue that foreign firms are more likely to select local firms with unique network structural advantages within a local alliance network. We frame structural advantages as two network position traits: centralit...

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Main Authors: Shi, W., Sun, S., Pinkham, B., Peng, Mike
Format: Journal Article
Published: Palgrave Macmillan 2014
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/50178
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author Shi, W.
Sun, S.
Pinkham, B.
Peng, Mike
author_facet Shi, W.
Sun, S.
Pinkham, B.
Peng, Mike
author_sort Shi, W.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Partner selection is a critical issue in building international joint ventures (IJVs). We argue that foreign firms are more likely to select local firms with unique network structural advantages within a local alliance network. We frame structural advantages as two network position traits: centrality and brokerage. Specifically, network centrality acts as a stronger network trait than brokerage in attracting foreign IJV partners. However, such a relationship may be moderated by foreign firms' local experience and perceived capabilities. We contend that when foreign firms have a high level of local market experience and perceived capabilities, they may prefer a local broker over a centrally located local firm. Data on the domestic alliance network in China's electronics and information technology (IT) industries largely support our hypotheses. We conclude that as foreign investors become strategic insiders, they may not only seek a local partner's capability attributes, but also more critically pay attention to a local partner's domestic network.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-501782017-09-13T15:37:03Z Domestic alliance network to attract foreign partners: Evidence from international joint ventures in China Shi, W. Sun, S. Pinkham, B. Peng, Mike Partner selection is a critical issue in building international joint ventures (IJVs). We argue that foreign firms are more likely to select local firms with unique network structural advantages within a local alliance network. We frame structural advantages as two network position traits: centrality and brokerage. Specifically, network centrality acts as a stronger network trait than brokerage in attracting foreign IJV partners. However, such a relationship may be moderated by foreign firms' local experience and perceived capabilities. We contend that when foreign firms have a high level of local market experience and perceived capabilities, they may prefer a local broker over a centrally located local firm. Data on the domestic alliance network in China's electronics and information technology (IT) industries largely support our hypotheses. We conclude that as foreign investors become strategic insiders, they may not only seek a local partner's capability attributes, but also more critically pay attention to a local partner's domestic network. 2014 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/50178 10.1057/jibs.2013.71 Palgrave Macmillan restricted
spellingShingle Shi, W.
Sun, S.
Pinkham, B.
Peng, Mike
Domestic alliance network to attract foreign partners: Evidence from international joint ventures in China
title Domestic alliance network to attract foreign partners: Evidence from international joint ventures in China
title_full Domestic alliance network to attract foreign partners: Evidence from international joint ventures in China
title_fullStr Domestic alliance network to attract foreign partners: Evidence from international joint ventures in China
title_full_unstemmed Domestic alliance network to attract foreign partners: Evidence from international joint ventures in China
title_short Domestic alliance network to attract foreign partners: Evidence from international joint ventures in China
title_sort domestic alliance network to attract foreign partners: evidence from international joint ventures in china
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/50178