Purpose: The purpose is to investigate how a retailer identifies critical network actors and gains their support when entering an emerging market. and to examine the role of a firm's relationships with different types of actors on the new market.Design/methodology/approach: The study is of an...

The importance of taking account of a firm's home-market relationships in efforts to explain its choice of partners for international alliances is discussed. Liberating and moderating relationships are proposed as two alternative types of alliances that firms may form in response to the...