The effects of alliance portfolio characteristics and absorptive capacity on performance A study of biotechnology firms

By Gerard George, Shaker A. Zahra, K. Wheatley, Raihan Khan. 2001

454 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract In many high technology industries, strategic alliances have become important for improving a firm's financial performance by providing knowledge that can be used to develop the capabilities needed to introduce new products. Therefore, researchers have examined those characteristics of alliances that can contribute to the performance of high technology companies. There is agreement that the structure and knowledge flows within alliances can affect a firm's innovativeness. However, to date, researchers have studied alliances as individual events or transactions, failing to recognize their synergistic effects as a coherent portfolio. Viewing alliances as a portfolio of strategic agreements, we suggest that portfolio characteristics will be associated with a high technology firm's innovative and financial performance. Also, we suggest that portfolio characteristics will influence absorptive capacity. We test these propositions using a sample of 2456 alliances formed by 143 biopharmaceutical firms. The results indicate that alliance portfolio characteristics and absorptive capacity jointly influence performance. The implications of these findings for high technology firms are discussed.

Subfields: Management of Technology and Innovation, Strategy and Management

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/ffba79435e624b9000d2994e6fedd3a367a86dc0

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Management of Technology and Innovation

In Strategy and Management

Citations in the corpus

Knowledge absorptive capacity: New insights for its conceptualization and measurement☆ (2010, background): “The studies (e.g., Arbussà and Coenders, 2007; George et al., 2001; Liao et al., 2003) that modify Cohen and Levinthal's definition alter its dimensionalization only slightly, and they do so by limiting the construct to two dimensions: the first, related to the evaluation, acquisition and assimilati”
Absorptive Capacity and Firm Performance in SMEs: The Mediating Influence of Strategic Alliances (2011, background): “The successful internalization of external knowledge spurs innovation which can improve company growth and performance (George et al., 2001).”
Knowledge Acquisition and Learning in Dutch and Belgian SMEs:: The Role of Strategic Alliances (2004, background): “Several authors (Simonin, 1997; Inkpen, 1998; Larsson et al., 1998; Mothe and Quélin, 2000; George et al., 2001; Soekijad and Andriessen, 2003) have emphasized the added value of alliance relationships KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION AND LEARNING IN DUTCH AND BELGIAN SMEs 686 European Management Journal…”
Unravelling appropriability mechanisms and openness depth effects on firm performance across stages in the innovation process (2017, background): “…external knowledge sourcing and their effects on performance (see Berchicci et al., 2015; Cassiman and Veugelers, 2006; Cheng and Huizingh, 2014; George et al., 2001; Grimpe and Kaiser, 2010; Hung and Chiang, 2010; Martini et al., 2015: Salge et al., 2012; Svetina and Prodan, 2008; Tsai et al.,…”
Capturing value from alliance portfolio diversity: The mediating role of R&D human capital in high and low tech industries (2017, background): “High-tech firms enter multiple alliance agreements to overcome uncertainty and optimise risks of organisational failure, and to access multiple knowledge and skills bases across the various phases of their value chain (George et al., 2001).”
The Intra-Alliance Division of Value Created through Collaboration (2011, background): “Late-stage projects continue to require intensive ongoing R&D in response to initial clinical results, indications from regulatory authorities, and continual technological advances in the research area (George et al., 2001; Lerner and Merges, 1998).”
Did the global financial crisis impact firms' innovation performance? The role of internal and external knowledge capabilities in high and low tech industries (2018, unknown): “George et al. (2001) report that high-tech firms enter multiple alliance agreements to overcome uncertainty and optimise risks of organisational failure, and to access multiple knowledge and skills bases across the various phases of their value chain (George et al., 2001).”
Learning mechanisms and differential performance in alliance portfolios (2007, result): “Alliance portfolio performance as a dependent variable therefore fits the theoretical framework, which is in line with other recent studies (Faems et al., 2005; George et al., 2001; Parise and Casher, 2003) and meets the methodological requirements in measuring the instruments (Ray et al.”