Taking a Strategic Alliance Approach to Enhance M-Commerce Development: Challenges and Strategies

Current m-commerce business models show that m-commerce depends on complex networks of business relationships, which often comprise telecommunications service providers, mobile device makers, banking industry, Internet search engine providers, and various third-party value-adding companies. Due to the nature of m-commerce, the key to success in m-commerce lies predominantly in managing a network of alliances. This paper answers research questions, such as why do companies team up for m-commerce? What are the key challenges facing the alliances? How can companies address the challenges? What does the future hold for the study of strategic alliances including m-commerce alliances? This paper extends strategic alliance theories to the study of m-commerce alliances that are formulated in various cultural and national backgrounds. The authors examine both strategic and operational strategies for m-commerce alliances and discuss a wide range of issues in the formulation and implementation of m-commerce alliance strategy. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61350-462-8.ch011