Antecedents of strategic alliances performance in biopharmaceutical industry: A comprehensive model

•Partner fit, alliance capabilities, social capital, and learning are•determinant constructs of strategic alliance performance.•Opportunistic behavior was negatively related to alliance performance, as hypothesized.•Partner fit, conflict management, trust, and social capital were•positively related to learning construct.

We examine which factors determine the performance of strategic alliances as most common strategy for technology commercialization in Iran biopharmaceutical industry. We develop a theoretical framework to performance measurement of strategic alliances between traditional pharmaceutical and new biotechnology firms (NBFs). Our empirical data are derived from a detailed survey held among established alliances by member companies of Iranian Society of Manufacturers and Exporters of Medical Biotech Products in the period 2000-2012. Findings show that partner fit, alliance capabilities, social capital, and learning are determinant constructs of strategic alliance performance. Furthermore, opportunistic behavior was negatively related to alliance performance, as hypothesized. The partner fit, conflict management, trust, and social capital were positively related to learning construct. Trust, and social capital, negatively affected opportunistic behavior. This study finds that alliance capabilities partially mediate between alliance experience and alliance performance. Also, specific partner experience and conflict management were positively related to trust. The social capital positively, affected alliance capabilities. These findings provide a deeper understanding into the strategic alliance performance, and offer executives in biopharmaceutical industry some practical ideas for assuring favorable strategic alliance outcomes.