Improving a Firm's Performance within a Strategic Shipping Alliance

Shipping companies have proactively participated in various strategic alliances within the industry to improve their competitive advantage. Previous studies have addressed how shipping companies gain benefits from strategic alliances. However, despite its significance, only a few studies have explored how shipping companies can systematically achieve alliances within the industry. This study examines the key determinants of successful strategic alliances in the shipping industry by analyzing the factors affecting alliance performance. These factors include inter-firm coordination, organizational learning, and alliance costs. This study also considers the moderating effect of alliance duration on the relationships between these factors and alliance performance. The results of this study show that the extent of inter-firm coordination and organizational learning have positive effects on alliance performance while alliance costs have a negative impact. Additionally, alliance duration has a moderating effect on the relationships between those three factors and alliance performance. These findings provide meaningful insights on how shipping companies can manage shipping alliances with their partners by simultaneously considering both internal/external and positive/negative elements affecting their alliance's performance. Keywords: Shipping Alliance, Alliance Performance, Inter-firm Coordination, Organizational Learning, Alliance Cost, Aalliance Duration