Interfirm alliances in online retailing

Reports in the popular media attest to the fact that the commercial development of the Web has sparked greater interconnectedness and competition between firms. Under rapid technological and market change and opportunity, firms who have innovative ideas, technologies, and products form alliances to coordinate their resources and fully capitalize on them in a timely fashion. Drawing on interorganizational exchange behavior, we examine factors that contribute to the successful continuation of an alliance relationship. Specifically, we investigate how satisfaction with performance and resource dependency in the presence of market and technological turbulence affects alliance outcomes. We use data collected from alliance partners in the online retailing industry to test our propositions. Implications of the findings are discussed for both research and practice. (C) 2002 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.