Title: Collaborative partnerships in the automotive industry: key motives and resource integration strategy

Authors: Prasanna Kumar Kukkamalla; Andrea Bikfalvi; Anna Arbussa

Addresses: Department of Business Administration and Product Design, University of Girona, Campus de Montilivi, C/Maria Aurèlia Capmany, 61, Campus Montilivi, 17003, Girona, Spain ' Department of Business Administration and Product Design, University of Girona, Campus de Montilivi, C/Maria Aurèlia Capmany, 61, Campus Montilivi, 17003, Girona, Spain ' Department of Business Administration and Product Design, University of Girona, Campus de Montilivi, C/Maria Aurèlia Capmany, 61, Campus Montilivi, 17003, Girona, Spain

Abstract: The research communities on international marketing and strategic partnerships have produced extensive knowledge on strategic alliances, but they remain silent on collaborative partnerships (CPs) in the servitisation context. This paper aims to analyse CPs in the automotive industry and to present the key motives and the resource integration strategy. It adopts a document-based multi-case method. The data is analysed through thematic analysis, identifying five key motives - new revenue streams, resource acquisition, competitive advantage, market demand and customer relationship - and revealing the service strategies of case firms by tracing their resource integration strategy. This is the first study to attempt to provide new insights into CPs in the automotive industry in the servitisation context. It contributes to customer relationship management by revealing that customer relationship is one of the key motives for a firm's strategic alliance.

Keywords: collaborative partnerships; motives; automotive; servitisation; strategy; strategic alliance; service integration; service innovation; resource configurations; customer relationship; partnership agreements; car manufacturers; innovation and research.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBIR.2021.114117

International Journal of Business Innovation and Research, 2021 Vol.24 No.4, pp.571 - 592

Received: 11 Mar 2019
Accepted: 24 Jul 2019
Published online: 08 Apr 2021 *

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