Organizational Learning and Interfirm Control: The Effects of Partner Search and Prior Exchange Experiences

Dekker, Henri C.; Abbeele, Alexandra Van den

doi:10.1287/orsc.1090.0505

Cited by 128 publications

(118 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Some scholars argue that increased familiarity with the partner enhances the ability to design contractual structures (Dekker, 2004;Poppo and Zenger, 2002), while others argue that partner experience reduces the need for extensive governance structures (Gulati and Nickerson, 2008;Zollo, Reuer, 28 and Singh, 2002). Our findings contribute to clarifying the tensions between needs and ability in contracting (Dekker and Van den Abbeele, 2010). Our recursive view suggests that firms learn to make relevant choices and adjust the level of contractual detail based on perceived needs.…”

Section: The Dynamics Of Contracting and Learningmentioning

confidence: 70%

An organizational learning perspective on the contracting process

Lumineau

Fréchet

Puthod

2011

Strategic Organization

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The contracting process is a crucial step in alliance development and its success. However, the existing literature reveals surprisingly little investigation into how organizational learning relates to the process of contract making. We therefore conducted an in-depth longitudinal study of the alliance contracting process in the animated film industry. First, our findings suggest that during the contracting process, firms can learn about the way to deal with the contracting process, about themselves and their partner, and about the transaction features. Second, the case analysis indicates a combination of experiential, vicarious, and inferential learning mechanisms. Combining these insights into the objects and the mechanisms of learning during the contracting process, we discuss how contracting and learning processes are related and analyze the role of the contracting process in supporting organizational learning. The findings show that the drafting of contractual clauses fosters learning and, in turn, this learning triggers new contractual negotiations. Hence we suggest that the alignment between transaction features and the choice of contractual governance results from learning during the contracting process. We then propose avenues for future research. KeywordsContracting process; strategic alliances; organizational learning; longitudinal case study 3 Acknowledging that contracts account for a substantial part of future alliance performance, strategy and organization researchers have paid increasing attention to the structure of alliance contracts (e.g. Lumineau and Malhotra, 2011;Reuer and Ariño, 2007; see Weber, Mayer, and Wu, 2009, for a recent review). Scholars have in particular started to explore how learning relates to contracts (Argyres, Bercovitz, and Mayer, 2007; Dekker and Van den Abbeele, 2010;Mayer and Argyres, 2004;Ryall and Sampson, 2009;Vanneste and Puranam, 2010). Prior research has generally analyzed learning effects from one contract to the next. It has been suggested that the structures of contracts change over time as the firms gain experience in working together (Argyres et al., 2007;Mayer and Argyres, 2004). However, as the contract is generally seen as an outcome of the parties foreseeing hazards and the focus is mostly on the contractual structure, we still do not know much about what is learned during the contracting process and how this learning occurs.In addition, the processes preceding alliance formation, and particularly the process of contract In this paper, our aim is to develop a better understanding of the links between the contracting process and learning. Our study elaborates on organizational learning (e.g. Argote and MironSpektor, 2011;Inkpen and Tsang, 2007) in order to analyze learning dimensions in the alliance contracting process. While considering the structure and the content of the contract, our approach focuses on the process that the parties use to draft the contract (Macneil, 1980). We seek to improve our knowledge of alliance contracting by studyi...

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Section: The Dynamics Of Contracting and Learningmentioning

confidence: 70%

An organizational learning perspective on the contracting process

Lumineau

Fréchet

Puthod

2011

Strategic Organization

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“…As discussed above, this is useful not only for anticipating self-interested behavior (Dekker & Van den Abbeele, 2010), but also other kinds of behavior that are relevant for the coordination and execution of the alliance tasks . As discussed above, this is useful not only for anticipating self-interested behavior (Dekker & Van den Abbeele, 2010), but also other kinds of behavior that are relevant for the coordination and execution of the alliance tasks .…”

Section: The Outcomes Of Prior Ties: Learning Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

Isolating Trust Outcomes from Exchange Relationships: Social Exchange and Learning Benefits of Prior Ties in Alliances

Lioukas

Reuer

2015

AMJ

134

103

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Social exchange theory is a broad theory that has been used to explain trust as an outcome of various exchange relationships, and research commonly presumes trust exists between exchange partners that have prior relationships. In this paper, we contribute to research on social exchange theory by isolating the trust outcomes of interorganizational exchanges from other outcomes emphasized by learning and knowledge-based perspectives, and by specifying important boundary conditions for the emergence of trust in interorganizational exchanges. We make such a theoretical contribution within the domain of strategic alliances by investigating the effects of previous alliance agreements, or prior ties, between the partnering firms. We find that prior ties generally lead to learning about a partner's anticipated behavioral patterns, which helps a firm predict when self-interested behavior may occur and know how to interact with the partner during the coordination and execution of the alliance tasks. By contrast, it is evident that the kind of trust emphasized in social exchange theory is not generally rooted in prior ties and only emerges from prior relationships under certain conditions. We discuss the implications of these findings for research on social exchange theory.

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“…However, to obtain such benefits, it is necessary that the organization have a good network position, such as a position with efficient and effective connectivity to others who have the knowledge the focal organization seeks to compensate for the loss of the knowledge that used to be contained in its workforce (Owen-Smith & Powell, 2004;Powell et al, 1996). In addition, my argument is supported by previous empirical studies that examine the moderating effects of network properties on the detrimental association of malfunctioning internal activities and the outcome of organizational learning (Dekker & Van den Abbeele, 2010;Hansen, 1999;Mizruchi, Stearns, & Fleischer, 2011). Thus, I present my fourth proposition as follows:…”

Section: Workforce Compositionmentioning

confidence: 60%