How Do Pre-Alliance Motives and Strategies Affect Post-Alliance Performance in the Airline Industry?

Abstract

The global airline industry has currently experienced major changes toward cooperation, where competitive advantages can be built via alliance memberships. The pressure of forming an appropriate alliance strategy is increasing because the airline industry has currently experienced uppermost shifts: intensive rivalry, rapid growth of technological explosion, environmental and terrorist events, etc. Despite positive pre-alliance motivations as recognized in most cases, after certain alliances strategies are formed and implemented, the post-alliance performance is not always satisfactory. Thus, the question of: how do pre-alliance motives and strategies affect post-alliance performance in the airline industry seems under explored. This study therefore looks into the triple relationships among: motives, strategy and performance. This study employs a systematic literature review method for this research topic. The review explores the main factors consisting of each triple dimension and then the linkages between them. Subsequently, it identifies theoretical gaps which indicate areas of further investigations.