Inter-Firm Knowledge Transfer between Strategic Alliance Partners: A Way Forward (original) (raw)
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Knowledge transfer in alliances: determinant factors
2008
Purpose -Resource-and knowledge-based authors claim that firms should focus on the creation and accumulation of knowledge-based competencies in order to yield long-term survival. Several authors have emphasized the added value of alliance relationships in the knowledge development and learning processes of organizations. Over the past decades, thanks to the opportunities provided by the inter-firm co-operations for knowledge transfer, knowledge access and learning, strategic alliances have become one of the most useful organizational forms for developing new knowledge for firms. The purpose of this paper is to identify and classify factors affecting knowledge transfer in strategic alliances.
Identifying and Classifying the Determinant Factors of Knowledge Transfer in Strategic Alliances
… for the Global Future, 2006. PICMET …, 2006
Knowledge-based activities are the basis of sustainable competitive advantage in today's economy. Resource-and knowledge-based authors claim that firms should focus on the creation and accumulation of knowledge-based competencies in order to yield long-term survival. Several authors have emphasized the value addition of alliance relationships in the knowledge development and learning processes of organizations. Over the past decades, thanks to the opportunities provided by the inter-firm co-operations for knowledge transfer, knowledge access and learning, strategic alliances have become one of the most useful organizational form for creating new knowledge in technology, product and market development. This paper aims to identify and classify factors affecting knowledge transfer in strategic alliances. First, knowledge-related issues in strategic alliance literature are reviewed. Second, the importance of recognizing factors affecting knowledge transfer through strategic alliances is considered. Finally, the paper suggests a classification of factors that should be considered by alliance managers and all professionals involved in policy making, planning and executing inter-firm alliances. Four categories are distinguished: the characteristics of knowledge, the factors related to absorptive capacity, the reciprocal behavior of the partners, and finally, the nature and form of alliance activity.
Knowledge Transfer and Organizational Learning in Strategic Alliances
Knowledge Management” and “Strategic Alliances” are two complex concepts that are of increasing interest for academics and managers alike. Knowledge Management is being presented as a keystone for the New Age of business and a synonym with competitiveness and success. Strategic alliances provide the opportunity to leverage strengths and redress shortcomings through the cooperation of partners, and are increasingly viewed as learning opportunities for firms that know how to collaborate effectively. By approaching the two fields of study and practice, we have focused our work on an intersection between knowledge and alliance where the keyword is “knowledge transfer” Our goal is to investigate alliances where the main (and publically stated) motivation is the acquisition of a partner’s knowledge, and to outline the conditions in which such a transfer may successfully occur. The theoretical development proposed in this paper, based on archival research, is preparatory to an empirical research project whose objective is to identify the processes and best practices of knowledge transfer in alliance arrangements.
An empirical investigation of the process of knowledge transfer in international strategic alliances
Journal of International Business Studies, 2004
This research proposes and tests a basic model of organizational learning that captures the process of knowledge transfer in international strategic alliances. Based on a cross-sectional sample of 147 multinationals and a structural equation methodology, this study empirically investigates the simultaneous effects of learning intent, learning capacity (LC), knowledge ambiguity, and its two key antecedents -tacitness and partner protectiveness -on technological knowledge transfer. In the interest of expanding our understanding of the organizational mechanisms that both hinder and facilitate learning, the concept of LC is refined into three distinct components: resource-, incentive-, and cognitive-based LC. Further, the strength of the relationships between these theoretical constructs and knowledge transfer is examined in light of the possible moderating effects of organizational culture, firm size, and the form and competitive regime of the alliance. Consistently, learning intent (as a driver) and knowledge ambiguity (as an impediment) emerge as the most significant determinants of knowledge transfer. Moreover, the effects of partner protectiveness and LC on the learning outcome are moderated by the firm's own culture towards learning, the size of the firm, the structural form of the alliance, and the fact that partners may or may not be competitors.
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In the current situation of the global economy, collaboration may provide an opportunity for companies by engaging in strategic alliances. One of the main reasons that companies participate in strategic alliances is to share knowledge and expertise and to increase the utilization of knowledge by organizational learning and knowledge transfer. The aim of the present study is to make a comparison between two specific international strategic alliances to investigate the role of organizational learning and knowledge transfer in building strategic alliances within companies. In the present study, we start with a brief literature review of strategic alliances, organizational learning and knowledge transfer. Next, we conduct our research using qualitative data from two specific companies operating in Turkey. We explain the data collection method, the research model and analytical procedures in details. Then we make a comparison between two companies in terms of organizational learning and ...
A Critical Review of Three Theoretical Approaches on Knowledge Transfer in Cooperative Alliances
International Journal of Business and Management, 2009
Knowledge transfer has been acknowledged as the conveyance of knowledge between actors in an exchange relationship. Inter-firm knowledge transfer considerations are particularly applicable to the viability of cooperative alliances. This paper attempts to identify and demonstrate the limitations and gaps in the existing theoretical approaches when it comes to understanding the phenomena of inter-organizational knowledge transfer relying on alliances in the competitive and changing environment.
Research on strategic alliances has a long tradition in management studies. Strategic alliances have been investigated using multiple theoretical lenses from RBV to agency and transaction cost, and diverse contexts, from the semiconductor to airline industries. In this study we scrutinize the extant strategic alliance research in thirtyone top-ranked business/management journals, over a twenty-year period, from 1993 to 2012. In a sample of 866 articles we conducted citation and co-citation analyses employing social network techniques and factor analysis to identify research themes and make sense of the stock of accumulated knowledge and theoretical trends. We were able to identify some shifts in research over time, namely from a focus on performance and theoretical emphasis on transaction cost theory and governance concerns, moving to a learning and knowledge transfer approach, social networks and collaboration. This study provides the foundations over which future research may develop to fill conceptual and empirical gaps.
Diffusion of knowledge in strategic alliance: empirical evidence
International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 2019
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.
British Journal of Management, 2000
This paper advances the concepts of knowledge accession and knowledge acquisition in strategic alliances by identifying supplementary and complementary dimensions to these knowledge transfer modes. Complementary knowledge transfer reflects the similarity of knowledge that the partners have and is conducted in pursuit of higher efficiency and productivity to enhance partner firms' existing competitiveness. Supplementary knowledge transfer occurs when partners each possess distinctive core competences and the information that is acquired or accessed increases the business scope of partners. As knowledge accession entails knowledge amalgamation that does not involve organizational learning, costs associated with the transfer process are lower and trust is easier to establish than in the case of knowledge acquisition. The paper reviews the implications of these transfer modes on trust building in alliances and their costs implications and presents a number of propositions for further exploration.