Technical and Technological Standards in Coopetition Longevity: The PSA-FIAT Alliance

In this paper, we consider the role of standards in contributing to the alliance longevity. Exactly, we wonder if technical and technological standards have a favourable impact to maintain the alliance in spite of the difficulties associated to collaborating between competitors. Our idea is that technical standards may favour the alliance longevity because they reduce the alliance relational risks and that technological standards may favour the alliance longevity because they help to reduce the performance risks of the alliance. We study the PSA-FIAT alliance and especially their joint venture (Sevel). This case is a special coopetitive alliance that lasted more 35 years. It enables to compare the longevity of the two sites covered by the alliance: SevelSud that is still functioning and SevelNord that has ended en 2014. We evaluate their implementation of technical standards in both sites and their respective performances. As a result, we have not perceived a relation between longevity of the alliance and the use of technical standards. However, we find a relation between the longevity and the ability of one of the site to have created a technological standard (a dominant technology).