International joint venture success in the automotive industry

This thesis examines International IJVs and the conditions that contribute to their success. The original contribution to knowledge of his thesis is the identification of Trust, the Parent Relationship and Long-Term Commitment as conditions most likely to foster successful IJVs. This thesis showed the applicability of these conditions to IJVs in the automotive sector and also demonstrates the dependency of each condition to the other by identifying a sequential order with which the conditions These conditions are established through interviewing senior management from both parents and the internal management of 13 successful IJVs in the automotive industry. The thesis is divided into a qualitative and quantitative analysis. Key themes from the respondent s qualitative views of success are extracted, coded and then analysed to provide robust empirical results. The data acquired from the respondents is analysed using fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA). The conditions leading to success are the parent s relationship, the level of trust that exists between the parents and their long-term commitment to the IJV.