Knowledge Sharing in Alliances and Alliance Portfolios

Abstract

This paper studies knowledge sharing in alliances and alliance portfolios. We develop a theoretical framework that encompass as special cases the problems of knowledge misappropriation and asymmetric learning and show that, once the issue of encouraging effective collaboration is put center-stage, many standard intuitions of the "learning race" view are overturned or qualified. Partners engage in "learning races" in some cases, but exhibit "altruistic" behaviors in other cases. They may reduce their own absorptive capacity, or increase the transparency of their own operations, to facilitate their partner's learning. Alliances between competitors can be more conducive to knowledge sharing than alliances between firms operating in different markets. In alliance portfolios, we distinguish between substitutability in common benefits and substitutability in rival benefits, and show that the latter can actually be conducive to knowledge sharing. Our work contributes towards putting the "learning race" view on a more solid foundation, by explicitly recognizing the importance of encouraging knowledge sharing between partners.

Keywords: knowledge sharing, learning alliances, knowledge misappropriation, learning races, alliance portfolios

JEL Classification: D21, D23, L24