Developing a Management Model for R&D Strategic Alliances in Automotive Industry in Iran

  Strategic alliances are commonly used in industries with high levels of technology and dynamism, including the automotive industry. The reasons for the high level of attractiveness of strategic alliances in the automotive industry are the industry's advanced structure and the ability to predict market demand and the importance of efficiency in high production volume in the industry. In the automotive industry, research and development is one of the most important sectors that is of great interest. R & D strategic alliance with the distribution of risk between the parties, the creation of learning environments, the transfer of knowledge and technology, and the management of heavy costs of research and development plays a critical role in today's competitive environment and the complex environment of the automotive industry. This alliance consists of three general stages of deployment, management, and evaluation. Since there is a deep research gap in the strategic alliance for R & D, this article seeks to provide a model for management of strategic alliances in research and development in the automotive industry. The present study aims to respond to the following question: “What factors are involved in the management of R & D alliance in the automotive industry?” and “what are the influential factors on the management of alliances?”

In this research, grounded theory was used to design the model. Judgmental and snowball sampling were used to find the experts in the automotive industry. After conducting ten interviews and taking into account logical theoretical sampling, theoretical saturation was achieved.

The characteristics of the automotive industry in Iran highlight the requirements for the formation of R & D strategic alliances and also confront barriers that need to be identified and eliminated to facilitate the formation of strategic alliances. One of the most important obstacles to the formation of strategic alliances is the weakness of the country's technical knowledge. Providing the appropriate conditions for the formation of such alliance involves a proper understanding of the strategic, motivational, legal and technical aspects of the issue which can reduce the management problems of the R & D alliances and facilitate the management of the situation. The transfer of technical knowledge in the strategic alliances of research and development has been one of the key issues that has always been taken into consideration by local experts, and perhaps this is one of the most important motivations for R & D alliance. In order to manage the alliance more efficiently, mutual trust is extremely important. Accountability, reliability and understanding of each party’s conditions are extractive concepts. The findings of this research show that cooperation with reliable local universities in general and industrial universities in particular has always been the subject of attention by internal managers to design different parts and particles. On the other hand, cooperation with automotive companies from other countries including Italy, Germany, Japan and South Korea has also been successful. Co-operation with the companies involved in the segmentation and supply chain has also been remarkable. Variables in the macroeconomic environment of the country, including the conditions of political stability or instability, the improvement of the complex economic situation, building trust for foreign parties, the supportive role of the government of the automotive industry, strategic alliances and cultural issues are considered as other important issues that can affect management of strategic alliances in the research and development. The extraction of three key concepts of exchange of knowledge and information, effective communication, and the way to collaborate in alliance are also found within this study. According to the obtained data, it can be stated that the contract-based and share-based alliance are more commonly used by local companies.

This research can address all R & D managers and experts who intend to manage R & D strategic alliances. These managers can take advantage of the proposed model to consider all the important factors affecting the management of such alliances and gain a comprehensive overview respectively. Identifying the motivations of the other party and understanding the strategic and technical issues are crucial for the continuity and success of the alliance. On the other hand, having mutual trust is another important factor affecting the management of strategic research and development alliances. This trust must be strengthened by the management team through different practices so that it can perfectly address the managerial challenges such as conflict management, negotiation, control and effective relationships. Understanding and predicting macroeconomic variables and determining the type of alliance can also be effective in an efficient management