This paper seeks to explain how location affects the likelihood of partner acquisition. We develop a novel framework that (i) emphasizes the decoupling between a firm's headquarters and its alliance-making division and their roles regarding alliance management and partner acquisition decisions and (ii) highlights that these decisions are contingent on location-related factors that shape the structural configuration of alliances. Findings from a comprehensive study of 20,165 alliances and 1838 subsequent majority acquisition events reveal that the acquisition likelihood tends to be higher in cross-border alliances than in domestic ones. We further find that increasing national cultural distance between the headquarters of the two partnering organizations attenuates this effect. In contrast, the co-location of the focal firm's alliance-making division and its headquarters further increases the likelihood of acquiring a cross-border partner. We provide a distinct explanation of partner acquisition, placing the interface of location and alliance structure centerstage to explain which alliance partners become acquisition targets. More generally, our findings inform research on strategic decision-making in areas where location is key, such as firm boundary configuration.

本文旨在解释位置如何影响合作伙伴收购的可能性。我们开发了一个新颖的框架，该框架（i）强调公司总部与其联盟部门之间的脱钩以及它们在联盟管理和合作伙伴收购决策方面的作用，以及（ii）强调这些决策取决于影响联盟的位置相关因素。联盟的结构配置。对 20,165 个联盟和 1838 个随后的多数收购事件的综合研究结果表明，跨境联盟的收购可能性往往高于国内联盟。我们进一步发现，两个合作组织总部之间的国家文化距离的增加削弱了这种影响。相比之下，焦点公司的联盟部门与其总部位于同一地点，进一步增加了收购跨境合作伙伴的可能性。我们对合作伙伴收购提供了清晰的解释，将位置和联盟结构的界面放在中心位置来解释哪些联盟合作伙伴成为收购目标。更一般地说，我们的研究结果为位置关键领域（例如公司边界配置）的战略决策研究提供了信息。