The Development of Knowledge Capabilities under Conditions of Novelty: The Case of Alliance Management in the Life Sciences Industry

Indiana University, Bloomington IN

Investigators

Abstract

Industries requiring the development of innovations, such as pharmaceuticals, rely on alliances to speed up theses processes. Increasingly, practitioners and researchers realize that cooperative relationships provide not only access to new markets and technologies, but also provide opportunities to extend their capabilities and knowledge. A learning perspective is particularly germane for explaining the choices made in managing alliances and builds on theories of knowledge creation, retention, adaptation and transfer. Since each alliance is unique and requires an individual assessment, this is learning under conditions of novelty. We build on research addressing the impact of the parent firms, the processes, and structures on knowledge acquisition and alliance success. The following are research questions: What is the impact on firm capabilities of building alliance management know-how for achieving its goals and how is this adapted over time? At the alliance level, do parent commitment and investment in a formal Alliance Management Process (AMP) improve alliance success? Does AMP enhance or impede the knowledge transfer and acquisition process? How do corporate expectations of alliance performance impact resource commitment and alliance success? We address the development of dynamic learning capabilities within a pharmaceutical though the context of a formal AMP. We will assess how alliance know-how is stored and adapted based on past experiences and the dynamic nature of alliances. We are interested in how this knowledge builds alliance and innovative capabilities over time. Second, we investigate factors that impact alliance success and knowledge development. This will be accomplished in three phases: (1) Studying the development of knowledge over time within the AMP; (2) two year assessment of the utilization of knowledge and the implications of AMP on the development and commercialization of new drugs in forty alliances; (3) Primary data from 120 alliances addressing knowledge development and alliance effectiveness triangulated with data from a secondary database.