How trust, dependence and prior ties influence the stability of alliances

This paper presents a theoretical framework for understanding the stability of strategic alliances. Based on combinations of different levels of changes in the initial alliance conditions and different levels of alliances' adaptation capabilities, this study proposes a typology of alliance stability: sustaining stability, flexible stability, rigid stability and transient stability/instability. Subsequently, the critical roles of trust, dependence, and prior ties in the stability of alliances have been analysed by drawing on an inter-partner relationship perspective. From this discussion, a number of propositions have been developed to facilitate future empirical testing of our conceptual model.