Working with Organizational Complexity and Diversity: An Empirical Study of the Formation and Evolution of a European-Japanese International Joint Venture

Abstract

International joint ventures are becoming increasingly popular as a form of strategic alliance, or cooperative strategy, but their failure rate is widely recognized as being high (Killing, 1982; Kogut, 1988). This form of cooperative strategy involves the interaction of organization systems that bring with them their own cultures, organization and management practices (Shenkar and Zeira, 1987). The influence of environmental factors on the structures and processes of an organization will be more complex in the case of an international joint venture, with the relative influences of parent organization environments and the local environment open to empirical investigation to identify the nature and extent of any national business systems influence (Whitley, 1992, 1994), ‘societal effect’ on the joint venture’s structures and processes (Maurice, Sorge and Warner, 1980; Sorge and Maurice, 1993) or other potential pressures for or against organizational isomorphism (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983; Orru, Biggart and Hamilton, 1991).

The author is grateful for the opportunity given by Nippon, Hano and ABC UK to carry out work in these organizations. There are many people to thank both on the shop floor and in the office at Nippon and Hano. I am grateful for the comments of Monir Tayeb, Paul Beamish, Ray Loveridge and Jos Benders on earlier drafts of this chapter. I also wish to acknowledge and express appreciation for the guidance and encouragement provided by Richard Whitley in the course of my research and doctoral studies which were made possible by funding kindly provided by Manchester Business School.