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7444Based on unique context in China, Luo Yadong and other scholars put forward Chinese management " amalgamation” theory. The " amalgamation” theory includes four parts: " composition” explains the usage logic of internal and external resources; " cooperation” reflects the development logic of external relations; " combination” embodies the dual logic of organization evolution; " conformity” expresses the management logic of organization strategy and growth. The " amalgamation” theory needs more in-depth theoretical expansion and empirical analysis. Cooperation strategy is an important part of the " amalgamation” theory. In order to deepen the understanding of the cooperation strategy, the followings are carried out in this paper. First, cooperation strategy is defined and classified. Cooperation strategy refers to the actions that the enterprise takes together with external organizations or enterprises in order to achieve the compatible goal of mutual benefits. According to the objects and their characteristics, cooperation strategy could be divided into three forms: vertical cooperation refers to the cooperation in the same industry chain; horizontal cooperation means the cooperation with new or existing competitors in the same industry; lateral cooperation takes place with enterprises, institutions and individuals with outside of the industry or the industry chain. Second, the motivations to adopt cooperation strategy are explored. The choice of enterprise strategy is constrained by the institutional environment and the social environment. At present, China has two notable context characteristics: strong relationship and strong institution. Therefore, this paper analyzes the institutional motivation and relational motivation of SMEs’ cooperation strategy from enterprise and entrepreneur levels. Finally, the impact of cooperation strategy on the competitive advantages, such as the speed advantage, the cost advantage and the customer satisfaction, is tested. This paper conducts an empirical test based on the questionnaire data of 796 SMEs in 21 cities in China. The empirical results show that: （1） enterprises’ abilities to manage external relationship have positive effects on all three kinds of cooperation strategy; （2） enterprises’ governmental regulations only have a positive impact on the lateral cooperation; （3） entrepreneurs’ industry ties have positive effects on all three kinds of cooperation strategy; （4） entrepreneurs’ political ties have a positive impact on the vertical and lateral cooperation; （5） cooperation strategy is benefit for SMEs to improve their speed advantage, cost advantage and customer satisfaction. The conclusions not only lay a solid foundation for the " amalgamation” theory, enriching the construction of China’s management theories, but also provide useful references and inspiration for SMEs in emerging economies to achieve rapid development through cooperation strategy.
/ Journals / Foreign Economics & Management
Foreign Economics & Management
LiZengquan, Editor-in-Chief
ZhengChunrong, Vice Executive Editor-in-Chief
YinHuifang HeXiaogang LiuJianguo, Vice Editor-in-Chief
Motivations of Cooperation Strategy and Their Impacts on Firms’ Competitive Advantages: Based on the “Amalgamation” Theory
Foreign Economics & Management Vol. 40, Issue 07, pp. 3 - 18 (2018) DOI:10.16538/j.cnki.fem.2018.07.001
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Cite this article
Sun Jinyun, Luo Yadong, Zhou Ying. Motivations of Cooperation Strategy and Their Impacts on Firms’ Competitive Advantages: Based on the “Amalgamation” Theory[J]. Foreign Economics & Management, 2018, 40(7): 3-18.
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