Cross-cultural adaptation management among partnerships in supply chain alliance

The emergence of supply chain alliance has brought new attention to supply chain managers the cultural differences that exist among partnerships. Beginning with a dynamic equilibrium model suggested by Grove and Torbin, and combining the characteristics of the partners´ cultures, this article constructs a cross-cultural adaptation dynamic equilibrium model for supply chain alliance. The model considers cross-cultural adaptation a dynamic equilibrium process with four phases, in which different phase has its own character and should be inserted with appropriate incentive factor, which is in fact the alliance´s cultural mood. Combining the model with a supply chain alliance, this article goes further to explore some implementing methods for cross-cultural adaptation management, so as to achieve the alliance harmony.