Expérience du partenariat, expérience du partenaire, connivence interpersonnelle : quel impact sur la réussite du partenariat vertical ?

This article investigates the relationship between alliance success and accumulation of different types of experience (experience of a specific partner, general alliance management experience, and relational capital) by companies involved in logistic partnerships. It has been pointed out by academics and managers that the development of partnerships has increased in recent years. Companies have to handle properly their supply chain. To this aim, companies undertake supply chain management (SCM) alliances aimed to optimise the vertical and horizontal links which exist between their value chain and that of their partners. However, although widespread and constantly expanding because of the numerous advantages they offer, partnerships are undergoing a relatively important failure rate. Lack of research on the determinant of logistic alliance performance leads us to question the critical factors of these particular partnerships. Regarding logistic performance, a more particular issue arises: the respective role and impact of different types of experience. Does experience matter? Can companies learn from past or present alliances? Does this accumulation of experience improve alliance performance? Does the repetition of cooperation experiences with a specific partner create a basis for learning and performance improvement? We try to explore these questions and mainly build on organizational learning theory. The article is structured as follows: The first part addresses theoretically the supposed impact of experience on alliance success. The second part presents the research methodology, the third part details the results and the test of a regression model; and finally these results are discussed in the fourth part.