Abstract:Based on alliance portfolio theory and Chinese transitional context,this paper preliminarily studies on how firms manage I-U-R (Industry-University-Research Institutions) alliance portfolio effectively and clarify effective management of I-U-R alliance portfolio theoretically into three sequential processes stages: the effective alliance portfolio design, the effective portfolio construction and the effective portfolio control. The first stage, the effective portfolio design has three sub processes including consistency, searching and screening. The second stage, the effective portfolio construction has three sub processes including negotiation, contract and building. At last stage, the effective portfolio control has three sub processes including setting up exclusive administration institution,collaborative innovation, supervision and evaluation. This paper contributes theoretically to discussing the path mechanism from effective portfolio management enhancing the firm"s independent innovation capability, and put forward its theoretical propositions, extending I-U-R alliance research in China.