Problems in global strategic alliance management for European defence manufacturing firms

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the problems which occur for European defence manufacturers in cross-border strategic alliances. Design/methodology/approach - The survey uses a large-scale questionnaire to collect data from a sample of firms from four European defence manufacturing countries and identifies those countries outside Europe with which the firms are forming alliances. Findings - This paper finds that the degree of problems differs for firms from different countries. Research limitations/implications - The paper is limited in that it does not collect data from partner firms outside Europe. The paper aims to identify differences which exist between the firms' experiences with alliances. Originality/value - The paper is important as its shows that some firms from different European countries experience more problems in certain key areas in cross-border strategic alliances than others.