Andrew C. Inkpen

Creating Knowledge through Collaboration

Although many firms enter strategic alliances with specific learning objectives, these objectives are often not realized. Drawing on a study of North American-Japanese joint ventures, this article analyzes the question of why some firms are more effective than others at exploiting alliance learning opportunities and develops a framework for alliance learning. The framework incorporates knowledge management processes—a set of organizational actions that establish the basis for accessing and exploiting alliance knowledge—and facilitating faaors—the conditions that promote a favorable climate for effective alliance knowledge management. The primary obstacle to successfully learning from alliances is a failure to execute the specifie organizational processes necessary to access, assimilate, and disseminate alliance knowledge.

Learning Through Joint Ventures: A Framework Of Knowledge Acquisition

Joint ventures (JVs) are becoming an increasingly important organizational form in international business. When JVs are formed, valuable learning opportunities may be created for the venture partners. The primary objective in this paper is to explore the conditions under which firms exploit JV learning opportunities through the acquisition of knowledge. A framework of knowledge acquisition by JV partner firms is proposed. Using JV partner organizations as the primary level of analysis, the paper identifies various factors that influence the acquisition of learning, its value to the learning organization, and the migration of knowledge from the JV to the parent. Two firm specific learning‐based concepts are developed: alliance knowledge accessibility and knowledge acquisition effectiveness.

The Coevolution of Trust, Control, and Learning in Joint Ventures

This article examines the evolution of trust, control, and learning in a joint venture relationship. Using a coevolutionary approach, we develop a framework that shows how initial joint venture conditions give way to evolved conditions as joint venture partners develop an understanding of each other and adjust the collaborative process. We explore the relationship between trust and control in joint ventures and identify how these two critical concepts impact joint venture processes. We argue that trust, along with partner collaborative objectives, creates the initial climate that shapes partner interactions. In turn, these interactions lead to subsequent decisions about the nature of controls. We then examine linkages between alliance learning and the trust and control concepts, and argue that learning processes are central to evolving joint venture dynamics. Once the joint venture is formed, and if the initial conditions support continued collaboration, then learning processes will be central to evolving alliance dynamics. As initial conditions give way to evolved conditions, learning and trust will coevolve and impact decisions about control. Propositions linking the concepts are provided as guides for future empirical research.

Learning, knowledge acquisition, and strategic alliances

The creation of new knowledge is a major challenge for all organizations. Knowledge provides the capacity for organizational action and new knowledge provides the capacity for organizational renewal. This article examines organizational learning and knowledge acquisition in the strategic alliance context. Alliances provide firms with a unique opportunity to leverage their strengths with the help of partners. In bringing together firms with different skills and knowledge bases, alliances create unique learning opportunities for the partner firms. The article first examines different knowledge conditions that influence the accessibility of alliance knowledge. Knowledge connections that facilitate alliance learning are then discussed. Finally, the article considers the question of why some firms are more effective than others at leveraging and exploiting alliance knowledge.

Cultural Intelligence and Offshore Outsourcing Success: A Framework of Firm‐Level Intercultural Capability*

This article discusses the importance of firm-level cultural intelligence in the context of international business ventures such as offshoring. We identify the recent movement toward global delivery models in offshoring ventures as the strategic imperative for offshoring partners to acquire and develop firm-level cultural intelligence. Drawing on Earley and Angs (2003) conceptualization of cultural intelligence and the resource based view of the firm, we develop a conceptual framework of firm-level cultural intelligence. The framework comprises three dimensions of intercultural capabilities of the firm: managerial, competitive, and structural. We propose items to measure these three dimensions and discuss theoretical and managerial implications.

An Examination of Collaboration and Knowledge Transfer: China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park

This paper examines alliance knowledge transfer using a case study of the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP), an alliance involving the Chinese and Singaporean governments, their agencies, and various private sector organizations. The objective is to extend existing knowledge in the alliance learning area and provide deeper understanding of some process-oriented aspects of alliance learning performance. We found that tacit knowledge was particularly difficult to transfer and that issues involving collaborative interactions between the partners both facilitated and impeded knowledge transfer. We also found that competitive learning occurred, which impacted the partner relationship and knowledge transfer. Copyright Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2006.

Understanding Institutional-based Trust Building Processes in Inter-organizational Relationships:

This paper deals with the role of institutions in the development of trust in relationships between organizations. We review various strands of literature on organizational trust and examine the assumptions made about how trust building processes are influenced by institutional arrangements. Following this conceptual analysis, we discuss four mechanisms that are pivotal in the development of institutional-based trust. We also examine four situations where the influence of institutions can be particularly conducive to building trust. Finally, we argue that each of the situations calls for specific mechanisms to be predominantly employed in order to effectively create trust in inter-organizational relationships.

Japanese firms and the decline of the Japanese expatriate

Conventional wisdom holds that Japanese firms use large numbers of expatriates and are reluctant to allow local nationals a significant role in subsidiary management. Japanese firms have been criticized for their unwillingness to capitalize on the internal diversity in their international managerial ranks. It has been suggested that a rice paper ceiling in Japanese firms restricts local managers from advancement opportunities and involvement in corporate-level decision making. The research reported in this paper directly challenges the notion that Japanese firms are unwilling to reduce their use of expatriates. Using a comprehensive database of Japanese subsidiaries, this paper shows that the number of Japanese expatriates is declining and has been for some time. One explanation for this decline is that Japanese firms have had no choice because of a limited supply of managers for expatriate positions. A second explanation is that Japanese firms are beginning to recognize the importance of empowering local management and are becoming more truly global in how they compete.

The nature, antecedents, and consequences of joint venture trust

Although trust has been identified as a critical factor in alliance management, rigorous conceptual and empirical developments of alliance trust have remained elusive. Our objective in this paper is to develop a conceptual understanding of joint venture (JV) trust. First, we define JV trust as reliance on another JV party (i.e., person, group, or firm) under a condition of risk. Reliance is volitional action by one party that allows that partys fate to be determined by the other party. Risk means that a party would experience potentially negative outcomes from the untrustworthiness of the other party. Thus, under a condition of risk, a JV partners trust is signified by action that puts its fate in the hand of the other partner. Second, we review previous literature on trust and JVs and show that trust has been viewed from three different perspectives: structural, social, and psychological. Third, we develop a framework of the antecedents and consequences of JV trust. The factors considered as antecedents are: prior cooperative relationships, habitualization, individual attachment, organizational fit, and assessment of partner competence. Proposed consequences or outcomes of JV trust include forbearance, governance structures, relationship investments, increases in JV scope, and JV performance. From this framework, we identify various theoretical and methodological implications, and propose a research agenda.

Cross-Border Acquisitions of U.S. Technology Assets:

During the 1990s, non-U.S. companies acquired nearly