Competitive collaboration: Learning, power and dependence in international strategic alliances.

Abstract

This study developed a process theory of inter-partner learning in international strategic alliances. Historically, little research attention has been given to the process of collaboration; issues of form and structure have predominated. Where the process has been studied, the focus has been on value creation--the efficacy with which joint tasks are executed--rather than on value appropriation--the benefits each partner extracts from the alliance. In the present study, inter-partner learning was seen to be an important mechanism for value appropriation. The study employed a grounded theory development methodology, relying on theoretic sampling of comparative cases. The goal was to gain administrative insights, while avoiding the danger of prematurely pruning the collaborative problem to fit a pre-existing theoretical construct. The study demonstrated how patterns of inter-firm learning within strategic alliances alter relative bargaining power and dependence of partners within alliances, and their relative competitiveness outside the partnership. A particular class of alliances was studied: those in which the partners were potential competitors. Asymmetric learning between partners often made the original collaborative bargain obsolete, and occasionally reversed an initial imbalance of power and dependence between the partners. Partnerships were conceived of as membranes, across which migrated the skills of partners. This migration occurred through a process of collaborative exchange, in which operators working across the membrane traded information and access. The process of exchange was seen to be governed by: (1) the intent of each partner--whether to internalize, or simply gain access to, partner skills; (2) the transparency of each partner--the extent to which the skills of each partner were visible and knowable; and (3) the receptivity of each partner--the extent to which each partner was capable of absorbing knowledge from its counterpart. Skills gaps closed through inter-partner learning sometimes re-opened, thus a distinction was made between temporary learning and self-sustaining learning. Whether or not learning was self-sustaining seemed to depend on: (1) the depth of learning; (2) whether the firm possessed the disciplines of continuous improvement; and (3) whether the firm was of sufficient size and scope to amortize on-going investment in skills-building.