Which two theoretical perspectives might be used to evaluate strategic alliances?

• A. Agency theory and stakeholder theory.
• B. Game theory and contingency theory.
• C. Stewardship theory and institutional theory.
• D. Transaction cost economics and the resource-based view.

Answer: (D)

Evaluating strategic alliances benefits from looking at both how the alliance will be governed to minimize transaction costs and how the collaboration will leverage partners’ resources for value creation. Transaction cost economics explains why firms form alliances to reduce the costs and risks of coordinating activities, focusing on asset specificity, uncertainty, and transaction frequency to guide governance choices (like market vs. joint venture). The resource-based view focuses on the valuable, rare, inimitable, and non-substitutable resources and capabilities each partner brings, and how combining them through an alliance can create competitive advantages and new capabilities. Using both perspectives gives a complete picture: you assess whether the governance arrangement makes coordination efficient and whether the alliance creates unique value through resource integration. Other theoretical pairings tend to emphasize governance, behavior, or institutional factors in isolation, rather than combining cost-efficient coordination with resource-driven value creation.