IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jomstd/v46y2009i6p1031-1056.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Learning and Innovation in International Strategic Alliances: An Empirical Test of the Role of Trust and Tacitness

Author

Listed:
  • Bo Bernhard Nielsen
  • Sabina Nielsen

Abstract

Drawing on knowledge‐based, organizational learning, and social capital perspectives, we propose and test an integrated framework in which knowledge tacitness and trust act as mediating mechanisms in the relationship between partner characteristics and alliance outcomes. We distinguish between learning and innovation outcomes and suggest that while innovation may result from alliance learning, it can also be created by combining separate knowledge bases without learning from each other. We contend that tacitness and trust play differing roles in the pursuit of learning and innovation and test this proposition on a sample of 120 international strategic alliances.

Suggested Citation

  • Bo Bernhard Nielsen & Sabina Nielsen, 2009. "Learning and Innovation in International Strategic Alliances: An Empirical Test of the Role of Trust and Tacitness," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(6), pages 1031-1056, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jomstd:v:46:y:2009:i:6:p:1031-1056
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2009.00840.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2009.00840.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2009.00840.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bruce Kogut & Udo Zander, 1992. "Knowledge of the Firm, Combinative Capabilities, and the Replication of Technology," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 3(3), pages 383-397, August.
    2. James G. March, 1991. "Exploration and Exploitation in Organizational Learning," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(1), pages 71-87, February.
    3. Manuel Becerra & Randi Lunnan & Lars Huemer, 2008. "Trustworthiness, Risk, and the Transfer of Tacit and Explicit Knowledge Between Alliance Partners," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(4), pages 691-713, June.
    4. Andreas Klein & Helfried Moosbrugger, 2000. "Maximum likelihood estimation of latent interaction effects with the LMS method," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 65(4), pages 457-474, December.
    5. Parkhe, Arvind, 1998. "Building trust in international alliances," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 417-437, January.
    6. Robert M. Grant & Charles Baden‐Fuller, 2004. "A Knowledge Accessing Theory of Strategic Alliances," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(1), pages 61-84, January.
    7. Bruce Kogut & Udo Zander, 1996. "What Firms Do? Coordination, Identity, and Learning," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 7(5), pages 502-518, October.
    8. Senker, Jacqueline, 1995. "Tacit Knowledge and Models of Innovation," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 4(2), pages 425-447.
    9. Tarun Khanna, 1998. "The Scope of Alliances," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 9(3), pages 340-355, June.
    10. J Michael Geringer & Louis Hebert, 1991. "Measuring Performance of International Joint Ventures," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 22(2), pages 249-263, June.
    11. Preet S Aulakh & Masaaki Kotabe & Arvind Sahay, 1996. "Trust and Performance in Cross-Border Marketing Partnerships: A Behavioral Approach," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 27(5), pages 1005-1032, December.
    12. Lerner, Josh & Shane, Hilary & Tsai, Alexander, 2003. "Do equity financing cycles matter? evidence from biotechnology alliances," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 411-446, March.
    13. Baughn, C. Christopher & Denekamp, Johannes G. & Stevens, John H. & Osborn, Richard N., 1997. "Protecting intellectual capital in international alliances," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 103-117, July.
    14. Nielsen, Bo Bernhard, 2005. "The role of knowledge embeddedness in the creation of synergies in strategic alliances," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 58(9), pages 1194-1204, September.
    15. Janet Y Murray & Masaaki Kotabe & Joe Nan Zhou, 2005. "Strategic alliance-based sourcing and market performance: evidence from foreign firms operating in China," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 36(2), pages 187-208, March.
    16. Anoop Madhok & Stephen B. Tallman, 1998. "Resources, Transactions and Rents: Managing Value Through Interfirm Collaborative Relationships," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 9(3), pages 326-339, June.
    17. Nielsen, Bo Bernhard, 2007. "Determining international strategic alliance performance: A multidimensional approach," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 337-361, June.
    18. Deeds, David L. & Hill, Charles W. L., 1996. "Strategic alliances and the rate of new product development: An empirical study of entrepreneurial biotechnology firms," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 41-55, January.
    19. J Michael Geringer, 1991. "Strategic Determinants of Partner Selection Criteria in International Joint Ventures," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 22(1), pages 41-62, March.
    20. Ikujiro Nonaka, 1994. "A Dynamic Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 5(1), pages 14-37, February.
    21. Preet S Aulakh & Masaaki Kotabe & Arvind Sahay, 1996. "Trust and Performance in Cross-Border Marketing Partnerships: A Behavioral Approach," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 27(4), pages 1005-1032, December.
    22. Amrit Tiwana, 2008. "Do bridging ties complement strong ties? An empirical examination of alliance ambidexterity," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 251-272, March.
    23. Udo Zander & Bruce Kogut, 1995. "Knowledge and the Speed of the Transfer and Imitation of Organizational Capabilities: An Empirical Test," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 6(1), pages 76-92, February.
    24. Bernard L. Simonin, 1999. "Ambiguity and the process of knowledge transfer in strategic alliances," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(7), pages 595-623, July.
    25. Mitchell P. Koza & Arie Y. Lewin, 1998. "The Co-Evolution of Strategic Alliances," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 9(3), pages 255-264, June.
    26. Raymond Van Wijk & Justin J. P. Jansen & Marjorie A. Lyles, 2008. "Inter‐ and Intra‐Organizational Knowledge Transfer: A Meta‐Analytic Review and Assessment of its Antecedents and Consequences," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(4), pages 830-853, June.
    27. T. K. Das & Bing‐Sheng Teng, 2002. "The Dynamics of Alliance Conditions in the Alliance Development Process," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(5), pages 725-746, July.
    28. Marjorie A Lyles & Jane E Salk, 1996. "Knowledge Acquisition from Foreign Parents in International Joint Ventures: An Empirical Examination in the Hungarian Context," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 27(5), pages 877-903, December.
    29. Eric von Hippel, 1994. ""Sticky Information" and the Locus of Problem Solving: Implications for Innovation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 40(4), pages 429-439, April.
    30. Marjorie A Lyles & Jane E Salk, 1996. "Knowledge Acquisition from Foreign Parents in International Joint Ventures: An Empirical Examination in the Hungarian Context," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 27(4), pages 877-903, December.
    31. Andrew C. Inkpen & Adva Dinur, 1998. "Knowledge Management Processes and International Joint Ventures," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 9(4), pages 454-468, August.
    32. Chong Ju Choi & Carla C. J. M. Millar & Caroline Y. L. Wong, 2005. "Knowledge and Exchange," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Knowledge Entanglements, chapter 0, pages 65-76, Palgrave Macmillan.
    33. Gary Hamel, 1991. "Competition for competence and interpartner learning within international strategic alliances," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(S1), pages 83-103, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Siachou, Evangelia & Vrontis, Demetris & Trichina, Eleni, 2021. "Can traditional organizations be digitally transformed by themselves? The moderating role of absorptive capacity and strategic interdependence," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 408-421.
    2. Koen H. Heimeriks & Geert Duysters, 2007. "Alliance Capability as a Mediator Between Experience and Alliance Performance: An Empirical Investigation into the Alliance Capability Development Process," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(1), pages 25-49, January.
    3. Liu, Chia-Ling (Eunice) & Ghauri, Pervez N. & Sinkovics, Rudolf R., 2010. "Understanding the impact of relational capital and organizational learning on alliance outcomes," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 237-249, July.
    4. Müller, Dirk, 2010. "Alliance Coordination, Dysfunctions, and the Protection of Idiosyncratic Knowledge in Strategic Learning Alliances," EconStor Preprints 41039, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    5. Jiang, Xu & Li, Yuan, 2009. "An empirical investigation of knowledge management and innovative performance: The case of alliances," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 358-368, March.
    6. Nielsen, Bo Bernhard, 2005. "The role of knowledge embeddedness in the creation of synergies in strategic alliances," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 58(9), pages 1194-1204, September.
    7. Bi-Juan Zhong & Yaping Gong & Oded Shenkar & Yadong Luo & Zhixing Xiao & Shuming Zhao, 2023. "Managing the hearts of boundary spanners: CEO organizational identification and international joint venture performance," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 87-119, March.
    8. Haider, Sajjad & Mariotti, Francesca, 2016. "The orchestration of alliance portfolios: The role of alliance portfolio capability," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 127-141.
    9. Pak, Yong Suhk & Ra, Wonchan & Lee, Jong Min, 2015. "An integrated multi-stage model of knowledge management in international joint ventures: Identifying a trigger for knowledge exploration and knowledge harvest," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 180-191.
    10. Pak, Yong Suhk & Ra, Wonchan & Park, Young-Ryeol, 2009. "Understanding IJV performance in a learning and conflict mediated context," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 470-480, October.
    11. Heimeriks, K. & Duysters, G.M., 2004. "A study into the alliance capability development process," Working Papers 04.21, Eindhoven Center for Innovation Studies.
    12. Nielsen, Bo Bernhard, 2001. "The Role of Knowledge Embeddedness in the Process of Creation of Synergies in International Strategic Alliances," Working Papers 7-2001, Copenhagen Business School, Department of International Economics and Management.
    13. Minbaeva, Dana & Park, Chansoo & Vertinsky, Ilan & Cho, Yeon Sung, 2018. "Disseminative capacity and knowledge acquisition from foreign partners in international joint ventures," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 53(5), pages 712-724.
    14. Nielsen, Bo Bernhard, 2007. "Determining international strategic alliance performance: A multidimensional approach," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 337-361, June.
    15. Janowicz, M.K. & Noorderhaven, N.G., 2002. "The Role of Trust in Interorganizational Learning in Joint Ventures," Other publications TiSEM f10debea-9d7b-47c3-8d4f-b, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    16. Hau, Le Nguyen & Evangelista, Felicitas, 2007. "Acquiring tacit and explicit marketing knowledge from foreign partners in IJVs," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 60(11), pages 1152-1165, November.
    17. Ho, Mia Hsiao-Wen & Wang, Fatima, 2015. "Unpacking knowledge transfer and learning paradoxes in international strategic alliances: Contextual differences matter," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 287-297.
    18. Li, Xiaoqing & Roberts, Joanne & Yan, Yanni & Tan, Hui, 2014. "Knowledge sharing in China–UK higher education alliances," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 343-355.
    19. Nielsen, Bo Bernhard, 2001. "Trust and Learning in International Strategic Alliances," Working Papers 8-2001, Copenhagen Business School, Department of International Economics and Management.
    20. Li, Zhengyu, 2016. "Essays on knowledge sourcing and technological capability : A knowledge structure perspective," Other publications TiSEM b8ff31fc-c57b-4bc3-b5a4-0, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jomstd:v:46:y:2009:i:6:p:1031-1056. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0022-2380 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.