Heterogeneity, diversity and complementarity in alliance portfolios

The divergence that a firm manages to achieve because of its partners is a fundamental question in an alliance portfolio configuration. Diversity can refer not only to the differences between the focal firm and its partners or between the partners themselves but also to the differences arising from various resource endowments in the alliance portfolio. Understanding the significance of these different sources, how they interrelate, and how they affect the firm performance is an unresolved question as unclear definitions and opposing arguments are proposed. This paper expounds the concepts of partner heterogeneity, alliance portfolio diversity, and network resource complementarity to gain a deeper comprehension of the alliance portfolio configuration and how it affects performance. Our analysis of airline alliances at a global level reveals the central role of resource complementarity in the focal firm performance.