Developing a Management Model for R&D Strategic Alliances in Automotive Industry in Iran Mohamad Ali Shah Hoseini Associate Prof., Department of MBA, Faculty of Management, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. E-mail: shahhoseini@ut.ac.ir Ali Heidari Assistant Prof., Department of MBA, Faculty of Management, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. E-mail: aheidary@ut.ac.ir Seied Mohammad Aarabi Prof., Department of Business Management, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran. E-mail: sm.aarabi@gmail.com Sadegh Ghaderi Kangavari *Corresponding author, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Business Policy, Faculty of Management, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. E-mail: sadegh.ghadri@ut.ac.ir Abstract Objective Strategic alliances are commonly used in industries with high levels of technology and dynamism, including the automotive industry. The reasons for the high level of attractiveness of strategic alliances in the automotive industry are the industry's advanced structure and the ability to predict market demand and the importance of efficiency in high production volume in the industry. In the automotive industry, research and development is one of the most important sectors that is of great interest. R & D strategic alliance with the distribution of risk between the parties, the creation of learning environments, the transfer of knowledge and technology, and the management of heavy costs of research and development plays a critical role in today's competitive environment and the complex environment of the automotive industry. This alliance consists of three general stages of deployment, management, and evaluation. Since there is a deep research gap in the strategic alliance for R & D, this article seeks to provide a model for management of strategic alliances in research and development in the automotive industry. The present study aims to respond to the following question: “What factors are involved in the management of R & D alliance in the automotive industry?” and “what are the influential factors on the management of alliances?” Methodology In this research, grounded theory was used to design the model. Judgmental and snowball sampling were used to find the experts in the automotive industry. After conducting ten interviews and taking into account logical theoretical sampling, theoretical saturation was achieved. Findings The characteristics of the automotive industry in Iran highlight the requirements for the formation of R & D strategic alliances and also confront barriers that need to be identified and eliminated to facilitate the