한국생산성학회

Yet there is a lack of research on how the fit between alliance portfolio strategy and external environments affects on firm performance. Building on the contingency theory and the exploration-exploitation framework, this study systematically examined how alliance portfolio strategy-environment fit affects firm performance. At the same time, we classified industries according to their level of technology (technological intensity) in order to find out the difference in the fit between high-tech industries and low-tech industries. To this end, we adopted a cross-sectional time series feasible generalized least squares (FGLS) regression model to analyze our panel data of 125 Korean local manufacturers that had responded to ‘Survey of Business Activities’ of Statistics Korea as they had engaged in alliances at least 3 years in a row between 2009 and 2014. The key findings are as follows. First, in an uncertain demand environment, firms in high-tech industries benefit more from a higher ratio of exploitation alliances in their alliance portfolio. Second, in an uncertain technological environment, it has been found that firms in high-tech industries benefit more from a higher ratio of exploration alliances in their alliance portfolio. On the other hand, firms in low-tech industries benefit more from a higher ratio of exploitation alliances in their alliance portfolio. Third, in an uncertain competitive environment, firms in high-tech industries benefit more from a higher ratio of exploration alliances. These findings have important implications for literature on the relationship between alliance portfolio strategy and firm performance, as well as for managers.