THE EFFICACY OF APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY IN BUILDING RELATIONAL CAPITAL IN A TRANSCULTURAL STRATEGIC ALLIANCE.

The enormity of the challenges involved in building relationships and developing understanding, trust, and collaboration in strategic alliances has been well documented (e.g., Doz, 1996; Doz & Hamel, 1998; Fedor & Werther Jr., 1996; Ghosh, 1996; Kanter, 1994; Kumar 1998; Levinson & Asahi, 1996). Organization development and change technologies (OD), including Appreciative Inquiry (Ai), are uniquely suited to dealing effectively with these challenges, yet the OD and strategic alliance literatures provide little guidance on effective methods or interventions. This comparative case study begins to address those gaps in the literature by comparing the impact of Ai with that of a management education (ME) intervention on the development of"relational capital" in a US-India biotech alliance. The definition of relational capital is expanded from "the goodwill and trust that partners accumulate in a relationship as they gain mutual confidence" (Kale, 1998) to include the development of mutual understanding, trust, relationships, and collaboration. Participants in the Ai intervention reported significantly greater increases in levels of relationship and collaboration (p<.05) than did participants in the ME intervention both immediately after the sessions and four months later. Participants in both interventions reported growth in their understanding of their partner's business and their leadership's expectations for the Alliance. However, the levels of understanding and trust did not significantly differ between the Ai and ME sessions. Overall, Ai was found to support building relational capital in this transcultural strategic alliance. Sample interventions are provided for conducting alliance-building sessions using the most productive activities from the two interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]