Examining the effects of interorganizational learning on performance: a meta-analysis

Abstract

Purpose Relationship learning is viewed as an important factor in enhancing competitiveness and an important determinant of profitability in relationships. Prior studies have acknowledged the positive effects of interorganizational learning on performance, but the performance measures applied have varied. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between interorganizational learning and different types of performance. The paper also goes beyond direct effects by investigating the moderating effects of different research designs. Design/methodology/approach This paper applies a meta-analytic approach to systematically analyze 21 independent studies (N = 4,618) to reveal the relationship between interorganizational learning and performance. Findings The findings indicate that interorganizational learning is an important predictor of performance, and that the effects of interorganizational learning on performance differ in magnitude under different research conditions. Research limitations/implications The paper focuses on interorganizational learning, and during the data collection, some related topics were excluded from the data search to retain the focus on learning. Practical implications The study evinces the breadth of the field of interorganizational learning and how different research designs affect research results. Moreover, this meta-analysis indicates the need for greater clarity when defining the concepts used in studies and for definitions of the concepts applied in the field of interorganizational learning to be unified. Originality/value This study is the first to meta-analytically synthesize literature on interorganizational learning. It also illuminates new perspectives for future studies within this field.

Literature Review and Model Proposition: The Relationship Between Inter-Organisational Learning and Innovation

“…• Company's network capabilities to handle and exploit network relationship required by the ultimate goal, short term market relation or long-term partnership (Rajala, 2018),…”

Collaborative Entrepreneurship for Continuous Innovation: A Strategic Alliance Perspective

“…Lastly, research deliberates the importance of adopting IOL elucidating a systematic combination of alliance partners' collective learning initiatives [16]. IOL addresses the network-based learning practices that involve mutual exploitation and exploration of knowledge in the presence of high interdependency and heterogeneity [32,35,50] which underscore the idiosyncratic nature of collaborative entrepreneurship toward continuous innovation [14,17].…”

“…This stream highlights the importance of the orchestration between alliance environment and internal resources/capabilities. Last, knowledgebased research regards alliances as a path for knowledge sharing and learning among partners [11,16]. This line emphasizes the expansion and creation of knowledge bases in alliances, which occur through learning mechanisms.…”

“…As an avenue for sustaining innovativeness and competitiveness, IOL becomes one of the key mechanisms to refine existing knowledge and generate new knowledge, expressing the purpose of partnership formations [16]. IOL refers to the network-based learning process that involves knowledge exploitation and exploration between or among different organizations in the presence of high interdependency [32].…”

“…Considering that the success of collaboration depends heavily on a firm's entrepreneurial ability to manage the relationship with its counterpart(s) possessing complementary knowledge-based resources needed for continuous innovation [14], we draw upon the theories of social capital, entrepreneurial orientation, and interorganizational learning. The basic assumptions for this theoretical perspective are that (a) social capital at the alliance level may serve as a strategic asset that sparks partners' decisions to get more entrepreneurially involved in the value-co-creation process [15], (b) entrepreneurial orientation may address the strategic intention of alliance firms to transform network-available resources into a source of collaborative advantage [7,9], and (c) interorganizational learning may elucidate a systematic combination of the partners' collective learning initiatives [16,17].…”