• Changes in the Intellectual Structure of Strategic Alliance Research, 1980-2009

Abstract

This study is to explore changes of intellectual structure of strategic alliance research between 1980 and 2009. A total of 1,518 articles with 82,614 cited references were extracted from the Science Citation Index and the Social Science Citation Index. By using bibliometric methods, the citation and co-citation counts obtained were analyzed and then mapped with multivariate analysis and social network analysis techniques to visualize the invisible knowledge network among those core research works. During 1980-1999 main research themes of strategic alliance studies include: globalization and competitive strategy, transaction cost and governance structure of alliance, motivations and learning capability of alliance, economics of organizations and cooperative strategy for international business. For the period of 2000-2009, four core research themes are identified. They are business value and learning capability, stability of interorganizational relationship and performance measurement, characteristics of partnership success and strategic alliance formation. For last 30 years, how to maintain the stability of alliance relationships and gain better performance through strategic alliance are main research directions. Studies that explore the relationship between learning and absorptive capability and alliance performance have prevailed all the time. The applied theories about alliance formation and performance have been extended from transactional cost, resource dependence and RBV perspective to relational view. The results can help researchers identify the linkages among different publications and the major research themes as well as theories applied in strategic alliance research. This study also provides a useful channel to access the publications in this field and to identify research directions of strategic alliance studies.

Keywords: Strategic Alliance, Bibliometrics, Co-citation Analysis, Social Network Analysis