Dynamic capabilities (DC) are said to be a source of firm's sustainable competitive advantage (SCA) in a rapidly changing business environment, but the dynamic capabilities framework (DCF) is still developing. Especially, many recent studies have focused on the microfoundations of DC, but since they are different from the theoretical microfoundations of DCF, the studies on the microfoundations of DC are not enough to establish DCF as a theory. The aim of this study is to present the hierarchical behavioral principle as a new behavioral assumption of firms, which can be one of theoretical microfoundations of DCF. Firms that follow this behavioral principle seek to maximize their profits in the low-order business environment that has already been realized, and ensure their profits in the high-order business environment as a set of options for possible environments. This study considers the logical consistency of DCF based on this behavioral assumption, the falsifiability of hypotheses derived by the framework and the empirical validity of the hypotheses, through the modeling of the hierarchical behavioral principle and its application to a business case. As a result, it was shown that the behavioral principle established a theoretical microfoundation of DCF, which could deduce the basic statement of DCF regarding SCA.

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Due to the inherent difficulty in developing high-value-added products, it is essential for firms to form alliances. This paper will provide an overview of previous studies on such alliances, highlighting the rationale for and management of the alliances in the research literature. Because alliance studies are based in inter organization theory and management, transaction cost analysis has been a primary assessment method of assessment. A research review revealed that studies about the rationale of companies for forming alliances is primarily based on Resource Based View of the firm(Das and Teng, 2000). On the other hand, studies of management alliances are mainly based on resource complementarity and compatibility. This paper proposes that these studies don’t provide a complete picture in terms of methods for how to search for an appropriate partner firm when attempting to form an alliance. As such, this study puts forth a hypothesis about how to conduct such a search in a way that increases the probability of success.

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