Key factors for the successful implementation of international joint ventures (Evidence from Iran's Automotive Industry)

International joint venture is one of the cooperation methods between firms which facilitate the formation of strategic alliance without a loss of corporate identity. Despite the high potential capacity of this method, a large number of joint ventures are unsuccessful and often fail in the implementation phase (Elmuti & Kathawala, 2001). The present study seeks to provide a model for key factors in successful implementation of international joint ventures, in order to help executives in the operation phase of their nominated strategy. To this end, firstly, we discuss the concept of international joint venture, strategic alliance and implementation of the strategy. Then, using qualitative research design and based on the experts' view, 15 semi-structured interviews were conducted with executives of automobile companies with a history of joint venture which were selected based on a theoretical sampling method. To analyze the collected data, MAXQDA software was employed. In conclusion, 8 main categories, 30 generic categories and 115 sub-categories out of 643 open codes were grouped, categorized and abstracted from the interviews. The key factors including: International joint venture strategy, joint venture requirements, corporate governance issues, establishing joint company, operation management, evaluation and feedback, continuation and environmental factors shape the conceptual model of this research.