Diffusion of knowledge in strategic alliance: empirical evidence

Abstract

This article characterises theoretical problems regarding the essence and exchange of knowledge between enterprises within the framework of strategic alliances. The objective of the conducted empirical research was to identify the relationships between specific features related to obtaining and sharing knowledge and the specificity of cooperating enterprises and the characteristics of an alliance. We also investigated the relationship between the size of partner enterprises, the duration of an alliance, and the type of innovations implemented as a result of the alliance. We tried to predict the probability of introducing a product, process and organizational innovation depending on the size of the company and duration of the alliance, as well as other variables characterising the company and the knowledge obtaining process. The results indicate that the relationship between the size of enterprises participating in an alliance and a favourable evaluation of the acquisition and sharing of knowledge is closer than in the case of the duration of an alliance. The research results also demonstrate that the correlation between the implementation of innovations and the duration of an alliance is stronger than in the case of the enterprise size. Establishing the relationships between the assumed variables for acquiring and sharing knowledge, as well as considering them in relation with the enterprise size and the alliance duration offer an added value to what has already been achieved in this area.

Understanding Strategic Alliance Life Cycle: A 30 Year Literature Review of Leading Management Journals

“…Interorganizational learning Larsson et al (1998), Hamel (1991), Gils and Zwart (2004) Institutional Theory Legitimacy Dacin et al (2007) Network Theory Social Embeddedness Social Exchange Gulati (1998), Chetty and Holm (2000) Knowledge-based theorists have stressed the importance of the learning skills of the alliance partners and the tacit knowledge that results from those skills (Buckley et al, 2009;Drewniak & Karaszewski 2019;Hamel, 1991;Larsson et al, 1998). It is well known that of all the possessions that make a firm successful, its skills and capabilities form an important and integral part (Hamel, 1991;Wernerfelt, 1984).…”

“…An alliance between two firms is a means to utilise the other firm's skills for mutual benefit. So, an alliance is potentially a medium for a firm to utilise and possibly learn skills from the partnering firm that may not be available in the open market (Drewniak & Karaszewski, 2019). Institutional theorists have stressed the importance of legitimacy as a motive for alliance formation (Dacin et al, 2007).…”

“…Alliances are becoming increasingly critical for firm growth and even survival in the current competitive environment (Musarra et al, 2016). Firms are entering alliances for a variety of reasons (O'Dwyer & Gilmore, 2018;Panico, 2017) including entry to new markets (Lee, 2007), achieving economies of scale (Inkpen, 2001), getting access to skills and knowledge (Drewniak & Karaszewski, 2019;Hamel, 1991;O'Dwyer & Gilmore, 2018), gaining legitimacy (Hubbard et al, 2018;Lin et al, 2009) and mitigating risk (Inkpen, 2001). Therefore, strategic alliances can potentially provide a lot of value to partnering firms.…”

Contractual networks: an organizational model to reduce the competitive disadvantage of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Europe’s less developed regions. A survey in southern Italy

“…The ability to innovate is vital to support firms' economic activities (Wang et al 2015), build or strengthen their global competitive advantage (Linton and Solomon 2017), and to ensure their survival (Löfsten 2016). In turn, innovation is determined by the ability to generate new knowledge and to use it (Drewniak and Karaszewski 2019) as well as to enter new technological domains (McEvily and Chakravarthy 2002;Cefis and Marsili 2005;Santarelli and Vivarelli 2007).…”

Learning and Development Tools and the Innovative Potential of Artificial Intelligence Companies

“…In the context of innovativeness of enterprises, increasing attention is given to nonmaterial resources, including knowledge in particular (De Geus, 1988;Drewniak and Karaszewski, 2019). Knowledge for an enterprise is inseparable from intellectual capital and human resources.…”