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Decision-making autonomy in UK international equity joint ventures

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 00:19 authored by Keith W Glaister, Rumy HasanRumy Hasan, Peter J Buckley
This paper investigates approaches to decision making in international joint ventures (IJVs) from the perspectives of the transactions cost and resource-based theories of the firm. In particular, the concept of autonomy in decision-making in a sample of UK-European equity joint ventures is examined. The study adopts a multi-method personal interview and self-administered questionnaire approach to examine managerial perceptions of decision-making and autonomy in the parent firms and the joint venture. The findings show that there are differences in the perception of autonomy between each of the parent firms, and between the parent firms and the IJV management. When we unpack the nature of autonomy in detail, it is found that IJV managers have greater degrees of operational autonomy than strategic autonomy and that decision making by IJV managers takes place within the context of constraints set within the IJV's business plan. This confirms the transaction cost theory which posits that key internal markets (for management, technology and capital) will be under parent control and also supports the resource based view that key capabilities are protected under the business plan established by the parent firms. The influence on IJV autonomy of the moderating variables IJV performance and IJV duration are also examined.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

British Journal of Management

ISSN

1045-3172

Publisher

Wiley

Issue

4

Volume

14

Page range

305-322

Pages

18.0

Department affiliated with

  • SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit Publications

Notes

The paper draws on both transactions-cost based theories and resource-based theories of the firm. It examines the nature of autonomy in UK-European IJVs, to find that their managers have greater operational than strategic autonomy (as the transaction costs approach would imply), and that key capabilities are protected (as the resource-based approach would imply). Dr Hasan contributed about 60% of the study, especially on the empirical side.

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2012-02-06

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