Analysis of the Latest Development of Inter-firm Relationship Partner Selection [企业间关系伙伴选择研究最新进展探析]

Rapid development of inter-firm networks makes relationship partner selection a core issue in inter-firm relationship research.Rational partner selection is conducive to the formation of stable and effective strategic partner relationships and the advancement of inter-firm value co-creation. This paper first reviews existing partner selection research in four aspects,namely knowledge matching,relationship interaction,strategic synergy and institutional embeddedness,and systematically sorts out the theoretical perspectives,main ideas and conclusions of mainstream research.Finally, based on a literature review,it proposes the directions in follow-up inter-firm partner selection research to provide the reference for further theoretical exploration.