Abstract:
Cooperative activity between firms has become necessary due to high uncertainty and turbulence in the competitive sphere. The limitations and inadequacies of individual firms in competing in increasingly global markets, with rapidly changing technologies and requirement of investment funds to supply new products with ever shortening life-cycles is pushing more firms towards cooperative arrangements. While substantial research has been conducted on the subject, most of the motives brought out are from the perspective of firms in developed countries that cooperate to achieve competitive advantage. The last decade has witnessed firms in less developed countries rapidly developing collaborative arrangements for conducting business. India too, has witnessed a rising trend in collaborative arrangements during the past few years, which evoked interest in finding the motives for such strategies. Publicly announced collaborative arrangements in India indicated that on an average about fift...
