CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS FOR STRATEGIC ALLIANCES IN THE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY - AN EMPIRICAL-STUDY

Intense competition in the marketplace is forcing organizations to exa mine different ways by which they could enhance or retain their compet itive edge. Strategic alliance is one such option through which an org anization can leverage its resources to emerge as an effective competi tor. Such alliances are burgeoning in the information technology indus try, which is characterized by rapid change and short innovation cycle s. Successful management of alliances has proved to be very elusive fo r the most part, and there is a lack of theoretical and empirical work in this area, Literature on critical factors was synthesized, and the n a parsimonious set of critical factors was identified using a combin ation of interview and survey methodologies. Our study has implication s for both practice and future research.