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Knowledge Exchange in Strategic Alliances: Learning in Tension
Author(s) -
Hermens Antoine
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
creativity and innovation management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.148
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1467-8691
pISSN - 0963-1690
DOI - 10.1111/1467-8691.00220
Subject(s) - alliance , general partnership , business , strategic alliance , relevance (law) , value (mathematics) , industrial organization , balance (ability) , marketing , knowledge management , computer science , psychology , political science , finance , machine learning , neuroscience , law
The proliferation of corporate strategic alliances is explained by the opportunities this provides for the exchange of knowledge and more rapid learning than any other factor. Exploiting complementarities among products and services, strategic alliances enable value creation by capturing the benefits from leveraging knowledge, and discovering complementarities among technologies, and among the activities of the participants. This paper explores the relevance of factors, which may influence the relationship involving the imbalances of internal tensions and alliance instabilities. It is assumed that the objective in a strategic alliance partnership is to maintain the collaborative relationship and to prevent unplanned alliance dissolution. Factors such as availability of resources, bargaining power, alliance type, alliances with specific goals and stages of industry life cycles, and changing market conditions can influence internal tensions and therefore alliance stability. This article argues that alliance partners should balance the conflicting forces to maintain the collaborative knowledge creating and learning relationship.