The three T's of alliance creation: task, team and time

Management scholars have paid a significant amount of attention to strategic alliances in recent years. Researchers in marketing and logistics also have invested heavily in studies of collaboration. As a consequence, our understanding of the motivations of managers relying of these relational forms of governance has been substantially increased. So, too, has our understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of different governance structures. Research has provided managers contemplating alliances as a means of achieving strategic goals with an improved sense of the relationships that exist between antecedent conditions, structures, and performance outcomes. What is less well understood are the relationships that may exist between formal and informal processes and evolutionary dynamics that arise during the formation phase of an alliance. This paper attempts a synthesis of what is known. Based on the available research, I offer managers some insights into the interactive nature of these formal and informal processes. In so doing, I also make an effort to suggest areas in which additional research on this underdeveloped aspect of strategic alliances is likely to pay handsome dividends for scholars and managers alike.