Strategic motivations for Sino-Western alliances: a comparative analysis of Chinese and Western alliance formation drivers
Tina Saebi & Qinqin Dong
#2008-030
This paper compares the key drivers of Sino-foreign alliance formation
from the perspective of both Chinese and Western alliance partners. Our
results indicate that Chinese companies enter into alliances with
Western companies mainly to get accesses to international markets and to
develop their technological and managerial competences further, while
Western partners aim to gain access to the local customer and supplier
bases of their Chinese counterpart as well as to the complex
distribution systems found in the Chinese market. In analyzing the
differences among Chinese and Western alliance motives, this paper shows
how the initial deficiencies in the Chinese institutional environment
has shaped the strategic motives of local companies and consequently
lead to the diverging alliance formation motives in Sino-foreign
alliances.
JEL cdes: F23, L24
Key words: Strategic alliances, China, Innovation, Internationalization
UNU-MERIT Working Papers
ISSN 1871-9872