International strategic alliances in the Iranian pharmaceutical industry : an analysis of key success and failure factors

• This study aims to identify key success/failure factors in international strategicalliances (ISAs) in the Iranian pharmaceutical industry, an area which has remainedlargely unexamined. The literature review, and an expert panel’s views, led us tostudy 33 success factors. These factors, based upon their importance in strategic andstructural configuration of the alliance formation process, were grouped as contentand process-oriented. A combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches wasused for data collection and analysis. The results confirmed that all 33 factors areeffective in alliance success, which is an extension of earlier research. The studyreveals 8 of the most important success factors, and 11 of the most prevalent failurefactors. The findings also showed that six of the eight most important success factorsare process-oriented variables. This confirms that trust, mutual understanding anddeveloping strong inter-organisational relationships are extremely important in thesuccess of alliances in the Iranian Pharmaceutical industry. However, 8 of 11 failurefactors are content-oriented, which means that the failed alliances mainly hadproblems in the alliances’ strategic and structural design. The qualitative studysupports the quantitative results and adds to the high importance of the soft aspect ofthe alliances’ success including: the culture of collaboration, open-mindedness,relationship-building ability, parties’ proper knowledge of each other’s businessculture/working attitudes, and effective communication. Besides, in Iran, the localgovernment and public institutes have significant impact on the success of thealliances. One of the more significant findings that emerged from this study is that‘success’ can mean different things to different people/partners, so success andfailure should be seen from both parties’ perspectives.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

inter-firm collaboration; international strategic alliances; key success and failure factors in strategic alliances; success/failure situations; pharmaceutical industry

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