Testing Assumptions about Evaluating Strategic Alliance Performance

Researchers have used a variety of measures to evaluate strategic alliance performance. In this paper we use data collected on performance of R&D consortia in the U.S. and of Spain-based equity and non-equity dyadic alliances to investigate empirically five basic assumptions made by strategic alliance researchers. We find that while several assumptions are supported, others are not. Results are consistent across samples. We conclude with recommendations for how to evaluate performance in future research into strategic alliances.