Prior work provides an array of partially contradictory
recommendations on how managers should form
international alliances. The purpose of this manuscript
is to introduce a more integrative perspective of
international alliance formation. It melds key elements
from institutional theory, systems contingency theory,
transaction cost economics and technological
perspectives to examine the issue of embeddedness. An
institutional view is introduced to suggest that
alliance formation characteristics may conform to a type
of industry embeddedness based on collective learning
and informed imitation. This notion of embeddedness
leads to specific empirical expectations which
incorporate the interactive logic of systems contingency
theory. This integration yields testable hypotheses
concerning very specific types of alliances.
