This study examines how personal attachments between boundary spanners within cross-cultural international cooperative ventures (ICVs) are established and their association with venture performance. Results of analysis of 282 ICVs in an emerging market (People's Republic of China) show that the development of personal attachment depends on factors at three levels. At the individual level, attachment is an increasing function of overlap in tenure between boundary spanners. At the organizational level, attachment is heightened by goal congruity between the parent firms but is impeded by cultural distance. At the environmental level, market disturbance and regulatory deterrence lead to strong attachments. Such attachments stimulate an ICV's process performance and increase financial returns.
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