ports, which is not the kind of systemic investigation preferable. However, the tendency
to form cross-industry alliances for entry in emergent markets is relatively new as it is
often driven by digital convergence. This makes it difficult to take a more systemic ap-
proach, which would require a comparative assessment of the performance of alliances,
where the firms involved deployed aspiration- and resource-based criteria for partner se-
lection versus the performance of alliances that involved firms only focusing on resource
endowments. However, many studies indirectly show that firms are not taking strategic
aspirations properly into account when selecting allies. Thus, while it is a challenge to
identify a sufficient number of firms deploying the two different methods to do empirical
testing, we sincerely believe that current theory is unadvisable to use as guidance for
managers in their partner selection decisions. Finally, we look at a particular industry in a
particular geographical region. In order to assess whether generalization is possible future
research should investigate partner selection criteria in different industrial and geographi-
cal settings.
7. CONCLUSION
Alliances may fail for a variety of reasons but a key factor influencing their performance
is the partner selection. This is true even if the firm does not enter into an alliance, as
partner selection works both to select the appropriate partners but also to dismiss the in-
appropriate (Makadok, 2001). So how should a firm decide on whom to ally with when
entering an emerging market? Contemporary theory focuses on existing resource
strengths and weaknesses of firms. Hitt et al. (2000: 464) argues that their resource-based
explanation “puts in another piece of the puzzle of international strategic alliances”.
This is no doubt true. However, correspondence between theoretical prescriptions and
managerial practice does not solve the puzzle in terms of what firms should do. In fact, in
the light of the high failure rate of strategic alliances, studies of what firms actually do
may provide insight about what firms should not do. When alliance managers act in ac-
cordance with theoretical prescriptions, and alliance performance continues to be dissatis-
factory, some pieces of the puzzle must still be missing. We find that the resource-based
view offers a too simplistic approach to partner selection and that this approach may re-
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