10 Learning and Strategic Alliances

Abstract

Various researchers have suggested that an important explanatory factor for the growth in strategic alliances is that alliances provide a platform for organizational learning, giving firms access to the knowledge of their partners. The notion that alliances are a vehicle for learning is the basis for an important and cross-disciplinary stream of research. This chapter examines theoretical and empirical research in the alliance learning area. We have two central objectives. The first is to integrate a large body of research by examining the key research questions addressed. The second objective is to critically examine the existing research as the basis for establishing a research agenda. Although the alliance learning area has generated a substantial amount of research interest and spawned wide-ranging types of inquiry, many important and substantive managerial issues remain underexplored.

Understanding Interorganizational Learning Based on Social Spaces and Learning Episodes

“…Therefore, it can be said that organizations that assume different organizational arrangements by means of interorganizational relations are also trying to facilitate the spread of knowledge (Child, 2003;Easterby-smith, Lyles, & Tsang, 2008;Holmqvist, 2004;Inkpen, 2000;Inkpen & Tsang, 2007;Knight & Pye, 2005;Lane, 2001;Macdonald & Crossan, 2010;Powell, 1998 Richardson (1972) also emphasized the importance of adding cooperation to the picture by saying that cooperation can be found in different organizational arrangements and contrasted this concept with the idea that the market rules. Ebers and Jarillo (1998), Powell (1998), Cassiolato and Lastres (2003), Muthusamy and White (2005), Balestrin and Verschoore (2008), Zaheer, Gözübüyük and Milanov (2010), among other researchers on the topic of cooperation, also highlight the importance of cooperative strategies in order to improve organizations' performance.…”

“…Different organizational settings have been gaining ground in the world economy, with a growing number of different forms of strategic alliances (Inkpen & Tsang, 2007). As a result, organizations are increasingly introducing new settings involving interorganizational relationships with different actors such as organizations, universities and trade associations, etc.…”

“…Antonello and Godoy (2009, 2010 identified gaps in studies on organizational learning and highlighted the need to expand their scope of analysis by identifying learning processes that pervade organizational boundaries, which reinforces the need to introduce additional units of analysis in order to advance this field of knowledge. Considering this, Hardy, Phillips and Lawrence (2003), Greve (2005), Engeström and Kerosuo (2007), Inkpen and Tsang (2007), Nooteboon (2008), Estivalete, Pedrozo and Cruz (2008) and Balestrin and Verschoore (2008) amongst others point out the need to deepen studies on IOL.…”

“…It should be pointed out that, however relevant IOL may be, it is still poorly investigated and is best termed a field in progress (Crossan, Mauer, & White, 2011;Engeström & Kerosuo, 2007;Inkpen & Tsang, 2007;Knight & Pye, 2005;Larsson, Bengtsson, Henriksson, & Sparks, 1998). The earliest studies dealing with IOL date back to the late 1990s (Larsson et al, 1998) and are still seen as limited in scope, which means that further investigation is of paramount importance (Dierkes, Antal, Child, & Nonaka, 2001;Easterby-Smith, Burgoyne, & Araujo, 2001;Easterby-Smith & Lyles, 2003;Engeström & Kerosuo, 2007;Greve, 2005;Inkpen & Tsang, 2007;Nooteboom, 2008).…”

Fostering Dynamic Capabilities of SMEs. The Impact of Inward International Licensing on Absorptive Capacity and Networking Capability : A Multiple Case Study in Pharmaceutical Industry

“…They are considered as effective vehicles for SMEs -to access, discover or exploit opportunities‖ (Reuer et al, 2011, p. 13). Strategic alliances are also appropriate tools for learning, particularly experimental learning and obtaining capabilities, competencies and skills which cannot be developed inside the company (Inkpen and Tsang, 2007;Tsang, 1999Tsang, , 2002. Following this perspective, study and research on strategic alliances will be significant.…”