Although social interactions and exchanges between partners are emphasized as imperative for alliance success, comprehensive examination of how social exchanges facilitate learning and knowledge transfer in strategic alliances is lacking. Drawing on social exchange theory, we examined the effects of social exchange processes between alliance partners on the extent of learning and knowledge transfer in a strategic alliance. An empirical examination of data collected from alliance managers of 144 strategic alliances revealed that social exchanges such as reciprocal commitment, trust, and mutual influence between partners are positively related to learning and knowledge transfer in strategic alliances.

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᭹The knowledge base of an organization is considered its intellectual capital, and is increasingly emphasized as a vital source of competitive advantage. Engineering, managing, and leveraging knowledge (individual-, group-, and organizational-level knowledge) are becoming strategic activities in many organizations for achieving competitive advantage. ᭹ In this context, building organizational capabilities to acquire, create, and disseminate knowledge on a continual basis has become a key challenge for strategy and organizational design experts. While the research and practice in this regard has focused extensively on Information Technology (IT) capabilities for building knowledge communities, the process dimension of learning, knowledge creation, and dissemination has received less attention.᭹ This paper articulates the need for cultivating the various learning as well as sociocognitive routines to create and leverage knowledge and suggests how this approach would help formulate better strategies and enhance employees' commitment. ᭹ This article also highlights the importance of a dynamic approach to managing organizational cognition, a critical factor in organization survival. We further discuss the implications for strategic management and organization development practices.

This paper is a study of the coordination capability between operations and other functional areas within the firm. The paper examines a number of relationships with respect to cross-functional coordination and performance. Using a random sample of 231 firms, five hypotheses are tested. Structural equation modelling is used to test the relationships depicted in the research model. The results indicate that firms can benefit from the cross-functional coordination between operations, marketing, engineering and purchasing.

Purpose In the extant organizational change literature scant attention has been given to the communication and cognitive processes consequential to organizational transformation. From the communication and sense-making perspectives, this study discusses the role of positive communication involving stories, metaphors or axioms in fostering socio-cognitive routines necessary for organizational change. The study further examines the empirical link between positive communication and organizational transformation with the survey data from professionals who have experienced the organizational change episode. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach The study examines the empirical link between the positive communication and organizational transformation with a survey data collected from 174 management professionals who have recently experienced the organizational change episodes such as restructuring, reengineering, TQM adoption or new strategy implementation. With the content analysis of narratives containing metaphors, axioms and stories, the study unravels the underlying clusters of organizational and socio-cognitive dimensions associated with organizational transformation. Findings The study results affirm the importance of positive communication and its effects on the emotional buy-in, learning and transformation occurring at the individual level, and attest to the transformational effect of positive axioms, metaphors or stories on the organization. The study also revealed that the positive communication diffusing social, cognitive or emotional attributes such as commitment, trust or optimism produces the desired transformational effect. Practical implications It is imperative for managers to understand the relationship between socio-linguistic processes and cognitive attributes such as trust, commitment and learning. With the help of right metaphors, stories and axioms that resonate with changing industry conditions, managers can effectively orchestrate the strategic intent and organizational transformation. Originality/value Most studies on the relationship between managerial communication and organizational transformation are primarily qualitative case studies focusing on the dialectics of organizational change. This study carries the strong external validity by capturing the connection between managerial communications and their transformational effect with the help of data collected from the management professionals across multiple industries.

The organisation that wants to build competitive advantages has to create and leverage its capabilities. One of the central bases for achieving competitive advantage is the organisational capability to create new knowledge and transfer it across various levels and parts of the organisation. Because knowledge is central to strategy formulation and implementation, knowledge management has become a key strategic task facing managers for achieving success in today's complex and dynamic environments. A major challenge facing strategic management is engineering and managing the individual and group level knowledge that facilitates better strategies and invokes commitment. A knowledge management based model of strategy formulation process is presented. Traditional strategy frameworks are evaluated and a comprehensive cognition and learning centered strategy framework is suggested as a better model of strategy formulation and implementation for achieving competitive advantage. The implications of the knowledge-based approach for strategic management practice and research are highlighted.