Resource complementarity and type of interorganizational learning: an integrative framework

Purpose – Resource-and knowledge-based scholars 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. The knowledge-based view of interfirm alliance has recently drawn increasing attention of researchers. Along with this ever-developing stream of studies, some authors from resource-based view have been focusing on the role of complementarity and similarity of partners as important antecedent of interfirm knowledge transfer and learning. The paper aims to apply these two main views for presenting a framework to distinguish four substantial types of (inter)organizational learning. Approach– Considering the opportunity of external knowledge and the importance of learning approach, the author applies two dichotomies to present four generic settings of (inter)organizational learning. On one side the complementarity of partners’ knowledge/resource is taken into account as the existence of valuable external knowledge. And on the other side, knowledge acquisition and knowledge access are discussed as two aspects of knowledge based view of strategic alliance. Finding– Four settings in which different types of (inter)organizational learning can be occurred are discussed, and some of the shortcomings of current literature on knowledge transfer by alliances are highlighted briefly according to each type of setting. Originality–The importance of knowledge access versus overestimated role of knowledge acquisition is discussed. The framework presented in this paper raises challenging questions about what has been considered previously as determinant factor of interfirm learning. In addition, each axis of the framework can be an important moderating variable in further empirical research in this area.