Inter-organizational Learning Dynamics: Roles of Networks on Knowledge Creation

The focus of most of the current literature on inter-organizational learning has been on how a firm acquires knowledge from its alliance partners. While knowledge acquisition is an important process, a firm may not effectively learn through such process, especially when the knowledge is complex, tacit, and embedded. Further, despite the increasing importance of networks, current research on inter-organizational learning has been limited to dyadic relations. To address these issues, this paper adopts a network perspective and develops a conceptual framework by arguing that inter-organizational learning occurs through both knowledge acquisition and knowledge development processes and that different network characteristic facilitate knowledge creation through these processes. Further, it suggests that absorptive capacity moderates the relationships between the properties of the network and effectiveness of the two learning processes in creating knowledge.