An empirical study. Intense competition in the
marketplace is forcing organizations to examine
different ways by which they could enhance or retain
their competitive edge. Strategic alliance is one such
option through which an organization can leverage its
resources to emerge as an effective competitor. Such
alliances are burgeoning in the information technology
industry, which is characterized by rapid change and
short innovation cycles. Successful management of
alliances has proved to be very elusive for the most
part, and there is a lack of theoretical and empirical
work in this area. Literature on critical factors was
synthesized, and then a parsimonious set of critical
factors was identified using a combination of interview
and survey methodologies. Our study has implications for
both practice and future research. 1996
