Mergers, Alliances and Networks are essential reconfiguration tools for expanding or contracting the scope of the firm. Reconfiguration refers to firms adding to their current stock (of resources, units, and business activities), removing from this stock, and recombining or redeploying what is within this stock. When expanding its scope, acquisitions, alliances and networks help the firm overcome the limitations associated with its internal development such as local search and time constraints. When contracting its scope, divestiture through asset sales, alliances and spin-off are also used to complement internal restructuring. In my lecture, I will pursue the four following objectives:

1. Illustrate the phenomenom of scope changing decisions and reconfiguration strategies
2. Provide an overview of the extent literature that is at the intersection of M&As, alliances, network and reconfiguration strategy lieratures
3. Discuss empirical challenges of this stream of research
4. Suggest areas for future research