Department of Management
Date of this Version
8-2008
Abstract
In this paper, we investigate the practice of quality management in strategic alliances. By employing a relational view of inter-organizational competitive advantage, the paper addresses the concept of quality management in strategic alliances and networks. We argue that institutional/network relationships influence the practice of quality within a network. In that regard, firms that have adopted quality management practices are more effective in managing and coordinating their interactions with other firms in the network, which results in their enhanced learning capability within the alliance. The proposed framework recognizes the role of trust and cooperative learning as critical factors that affect the success of strategic alliances. It has been argued that firms within an alliance need to achieve the paradox of control and learning. We examine the role of trust as a control mechanism in strategic alliances and address the importance of cooperative learning within alliances. Several hypotheses have been proposed and future research has been outlined.
Comments
Published in International Journal of Production Economics 114:2 (August 2008), pp. 820-829 [Special Section on Logistics Management in Fashion Retail Supply Chains]; doi 10.1016/j.ijpe.2008.04.003 Published by Elsevier B.V. Used by permission. http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ijpe