CCM 16,1 44 Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal Vol. 16 No. 1, 2009 pp. 44-61 # Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1352-7606 DOI 10.1108/13527600910930031 Influence of national culture on trans-national alliance relationships Suku Bhaskaran and Emilija Gligorovska Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse and review whether national culture influences organisational beliefs about and behaviours to trans-national alliance partners. Design/methodology/approach – Reviewed extant studies on national culture, organisational culture and business-to-business relationship. Using information from the literature review and key informant surveys, a survey instrument comprising of close-ended questions was developed. The questionnaire was sent to the Chief Executives Officer’s of 1,248 organisations identified through systematically selecting every third organisation in the sampling frame. Two weeks later, universal reminders were sent to all 1,248 organisations. The data from 376 fully completed questionnaires returned were analysed through exploratory factor analysis and canonical correlation analysis. Findings – National culture influences beliefs about and behaviours to trans-national alliance partners. However, beliefs and behaviours are also influenced by the complex inter-relationships between relational constructs such as trust, commitment, co-operation, dependence, communication and compatibility. Often, compatibility is not only influenced by national culture but also by the size, business activity and how the organisation is incorporated. Practical implications – Beliefs about and behaviours to trans-national partner organisations are not solely influenced by national culture. It is the outcome of complex and diverse social, political, economic and organisational factors and how these factors influence orientations to issues such as trust, commitment, co-operation and communication. Originality/value – Explores a hitherto under-researched theme on trans-national business alliances, the influence of the national culture of organisations on various relational issues discussed in business-to-business relationship studies. The study consolidates knowledge from three streams of literature (national culture, organisational culture and business-to-business relationship), often handled as disparate sources of knowledge. Keywords National cultures, Organizational culture, Business policy, Strategic alliances, International cooperation, Malaysia Paper type Research paper Introduction Product-market success in a rapidly globalising market, characterised by converging tastes, rapid adoption of new and innovative technologies, escalating fixed costs, growing protectionism and excess production capacity, is often determined not by the quality of product and service offerings alone but also by the quality of business collaborations (Parkhe, 1991; Ohmae, 1989). Unitary organisations, organisations which conduct business independently without collaborations, experience difficulties such as operational inefficiency, resource scarcity, infrastructure constraints and incapacity to pool business risks (Borys and Jemison, 1989). Increasing realisation that collaborations are critical to achieving product-market objectives has fostered a large number of studies on strategic partnership formation and development. Nearly, 70 per cent of organisational behaviour and human resource management studies make references to culture and nearly 94per cent of these studies conclude that culture influences organisational behaviour including how organisations pursue strategic The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/1352-7606.htm