How does language friction affect alliance formation? Language friction is a form of cultural friction arising from structural differences in the respective languages used by potential partners to reason and solve problems together. A little language friction may prompt partners to rethink...

Taking a temporal view of learning in partnerships, we argue that learning to contract from prior relationships can be manifested not only in an increase in the level of contractual detail but also in a decrease in negotiation time for a given level of contractual detail. We analyse the...

Our purpose in this paper is to provide an overview of what we know about alliance contracts. After a short introduction to the contents of alliance contracts, we start by contrasting alliance contractual form and governance form. Next, we focus on two related constructs: contractual complexity...

Building upon taxonomical research on interfirm alliances, we investigate the design of entrepreneurial firms' alliances in more fine-grained terms by focusing on the specific contractual provisions that firms put into their alliance contracts. Drawing upon transaction cost arguments, we examine...

Small firms are thought to encounter various difficulties implementing strategic alliances. Due to these problems, they may be less able to reap the benefits of alliance adaptation, and the changes that occur in alliances over time often will not coincide with the small firm's interests. The...