Project Management in Alliances

Background
 

Alliances on corporate level, which occur in numerous industries, aim to realize advantages of specialization, share risks, increase capacities and, thus, for firms to become more innovative and competitive. Certainly, the large variety of different alliance forms impedes general design recommendations for an effective alliance. However, some recommendations may be derived. They consider the degree of financial interlocking as well as the time scope of the alliance.

Objective
 

The primary objective is to identify key success factors for an effective project management of alliances on a corporate level. Our focus lies on analyzing the contribution of specific project managers to cooperation success.

Methods
 

To achieve the outlined research objectives, qualitative and quantitative methods are required. A comprehensive literature analysis regarding dynamic capabilities is conducted. In parallel or subsequently, a survey at company level is carried out. This survey inquires the basic coherences of an effective project management on corporate level. Subsequently, data of our empirical study, which is analyzed by elaborated statistical methods, sheds more light on this issue. Thus, causal relations between of the effects of project management on company performance are depicted.

Funding
 

Research on Innovation Supply Chain is directly supported by the University of Bayreuth within the framework of a research unit.

Selected Publications
 

Management of Alliances: Performance Effects of Project Managers' Participation (Ricarda B. Bouncken, William J. Lekse), angenommen, in: Journal of International Business and Economics (JIBE), 2010. (Abstract)

Management of Alliances in Dynamic Industries: Modularization and Inter-Firm Teams (Ricarda B. Bouncken, Thorsten Teichert, Michael Koch), in: International Journal of Business Research (IJBR), Nr. 3, 2007, S. 1 - 9. (Abstract)