Multi-party international joint ventures: Multiple post-formation change processes

Research on multi-party IJVs has been limited to a static context. Little attention has been paid to analyzing dynamic post-formation change processes. This study investigates the evolving influences of multi-party IJV complexity on performance in a dynamic context where the multi-party IJV goes through multiple waves of structural change. Using a static context, some previous studies found support for a negative impact of multi-party complexity on performance, while others did not. Analyzing 2652 multi-party IJVs over a period of 17 years, we attempt to reconcile previous work by investigating whether there is a threshold beyond which the negative impact of multi-party complexity on performance becomes salient. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.