Between trust and control in R&D alliances

Abstract

1Between trust and control in interorganizational collaboration -Rethinking formal and informal governance in R&D alliances Abstract Purpose: Trust and control through contracting have been juxtaposed in many studies addressing interorganizational collaboration and knowledge exchange. In this study, we move from the opposite ends of a continuum between trust as an attitude and control exercised through formal contracts toward the center of the continuum where trust and contracting start to show similar features. We ask how trust in its analytical form, and control gained through establishing informal protection for knowledge assets affect the innovation and market performance of firms engaged in R&D alliances.Design/methodology: We examine existing literature and conduct a quantitative empirical study to answer our research question. Findings:We find, first, that controlling an organization's own knowledge assets in R&D alliances with informal means of protection can be more effective than a strategy of controlling the alliance through formal contracts. Second, we find that an analytical audit of partner trustworthiness, and especially partner capabilities and goodwill, can be more effective than trust as an attitude.Implications: Our findings support softening the sharp distinction between trust and control and provide evidence on the relevance of highlighting the firm point of view in knowledge management in R&D alliance governance.Originality: Our study adds to the existing understanding of trust and control in R&D alliance governance. Specifically, we turn the focus from interorganizational governance to intra-2 organizational knowledge management measures, and particularly toward how a focal actor can take an analytical approach to evaluating partner trustworthiness and use informal control in protecting its own knowledge assets. Consequently, this study also provides a plausible explanation for the contradictory findings in studies that examine the relationship between trust and control. Our study indicates that depending on the specific nature of trust and control, they can be either a complement or a supplement factors: the extreme forms of trust and control are notably different from those forms that share similar features.

An investigation of knowledge protection practices in inter-organisational collaboration: protecting specialised engineering knowledge with a practice based on grey-box modelling

“…Hence, trust [cf. also Henttonen et al (2019)] seems to be an important mediator in our investigated triad.…”

“…Literature investigated knowledge protection in different settings. An early and important research stream investigated knowledge protection in strategic alliances Norman (2004), Kale et al (2000), which gradually shifted to networks [Trkman and Desouza (2012), Marabelli and Newell (2012), R&D alliances (Henttonen et al, 2019)] and co-opetition settings as specific R&D and innovation network [Fredrich et al (2019), Bouncken et al (2020)]. In times of globalisation, this equilibrium between sharing and protection is also viewed in relation to foreign subsidiaries (Perri and Andersson, 2014).…”