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Organizational governance of inter-firm resource combinations: The impact of structural embeddedness and vertical resource relatedness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 March 2016

Sungho Kim  and
Kyuho Jin
Sungho Kim
Affiliation:
School of Business, Southern Illinois University, 2128 Founders Hall, Campus Box 1100, Edwardsville, IL 62025, USA
Kyuho Jin*
Affiliation:
College of Business Administration, Seoul National University, Daehak-dong, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 151-916, South Korea
*
Corresponding author: hypergeometric@mensakorea.org
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Abstract

Firms not only combine resources within firm boundaries but tap into, acquire, or consolidate resources outside firm boundaries. Alliances and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are distinct vehicles for governing inter-firm resource combinations. Prior studies on the governance choice between them have relied on firm- or dyad-level attributes to explicate the choice firms make about the governance. However, any firm or dyad is a micro-structure embedded in networks that shape the flow of information and resources to the focal firm or dyad. In addition, although alliances and mergers and acquisitions involve either horizontal or vertical resource combinations, the vertical dimension of resource relatedness has been largely neglected in prior research. This study examines the impact of structural embeddedness and vertical resource relatedness on governance choice. We find that structural embeddedness is an important driver of governance choice and that a significant portion of resource combinations occurs along the vertical dimension of relatedness.

Keywords

organizational governanceresource combinationstructural embeddednessnetwork clustervertical relatedness
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 23 , Issue 4 , July 2017 , pp. 524 - 544
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2016 

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