Supervisors: Ingo Kleindienst & Carsten Bergenholtz/Oana Vuculescu
Discussants: Franziska Günzel-Jensen & Jakob Arnoldi

Abstract
Relying on 50 years of publications, coalitions studies stand as a very fragmented field. Since Cyert & March classical book, if defining them benefited from decades of reviews, establishing their behavior still lacked a coherent theoretical and empirical integration capable of capturing their dynamic and political nature. This review examines the political behaviors of coalitions within the Behavioral Theory of the Firm empirical studies published in leading management journals. It seeks to uncover the generative mechanisms linking individual power resources, coalition behavior, and outcomes shifting the internal balance of power. Coalitions are conceptualized as dynamic intermediaries between micro-level interactions and macro-level organizational structures, shaping and being shaped by political processes and power asymmetries. By integrating qualitative and quantitative evidence, the review constructs a microfounded model of intraorganizational politics that explains how coalitional mechanisms influence collective politics, power distribution, and organizational change across time and contexts.

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