This study examines conditions in which alliance networks (informal webs of bilateral entanglements between firms) may or may not evolve into multilateral alliances (broad, formal multiple-firm arrangements). I offer a theory to explain the formation of multilateral alliances based on both the resource profile and the structure of existing interfirm networks, and provide an initial test of that...

Environmentally beneficial actions come in diverse forms and occur in a wide range of settings ranging from personal decisions in households to negotiated agreements between nations. This article draws upon both social and ecological theory to outline, theoretically, the circumstances in which localized actions, undertaken by citizens, should cumulate to have global effects. The beliefs behind ...

The concepts of secure sets and security number in graphs were introduced first by Brigham et al. in 2007 as a generalization of the concept of alliances in graphs. Defensive alliances are related to the defense of a single vertex. But, in a general realistic settings, alliances should be formed so that any attack on the entire alliance or any subset of the alliance can be defended. In this sen...

The instrumental use of social networks has become a central tenet of international health policy and advocacy since the Millennium project. In asking, ‘How to facilitate social contagion?’, Karl Blanchet of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine therefore reflects not only on the recent success, but also hints to growing challenges; the tactics of partnerships, alliances and platfo...

Departing from prior work that demonstrates the stickiness and stability of alliance networks resulting from embeddedness, we extend matching theory to study firms’ withdrawal from alliances. Viewing alliance withdrawal as a result of firms’ pursuit of more promising alternative partners – outside options – rather than failures in collaboration, we predict that a firm is more likely to withdraw...

Departing from prior work that demonstrates the stickiness and stability of alliance networks resulting from embeddedness, we extend matching theory to study firms‟ withdrawal from alliances. Viewing alliance withdrawal as a result of firms‟ pursuit of more promising alternative partners – outside options – rather than failures in collaboration, we predict that a firm is more likely to withdraw...