Make, buy, or ally?—A configurational approach to governance choices in vertical expansion

Firms expand vertical boundaries by obtaining ownership of relevant resources. There are three means by which firms can achieve this goal: internal development, mergers and acquisitions (M&As), and equity joint ventures. From transaction cost theory and resource‐based view, this study analyzed how resource characteristics, environmental conditions, and firms' capabilities influence their governance choices by studying 30 cases involving architectural, engineering, and construction firms and employing a fuzzy‐set qualitative comparative analysis method. The findings reveal that all the antecedents jointly influenced firms' governance choices; however, they did so in a way that led to the firms' rejection as opposed to the implementation of one strategy. Firms avoided choosing internal development to circumvent high internal transaction costs or expand into new business rapidly. Firms excluded M&As when the similarity between new and existing resources was high to avoid resource redundancy. When market uncertainty was high, they did so to avoid investment risks. Moreover, when high external transaction costs were evident due to interactions and interdependency between firms and their partners, firms tended to choose a more integrated strategy and excluded equity joint ventures. The research indicates that firms' relational capabilities help them reduce external transaction costs and identify strategies with the lowest efficiency.