Handbook of Organizational Learning and Knowledge Management, Second Edition

Towards A Meta-framework of Collaborative Learning

Figure 27.2 presents our mapping of the field. We discuss its dimensions in the following section.

Figure 27.2 Mapping the Collaborative Field

Alliances: specifying the boundaries

A range of inter-firm relationships can be categorized as strategic alliances (Kale and Singh, 2009). Definitional ambiguities render assessing cooperation, particularly, inter-firm cooperation, difficult. Early on, O’Brien and Tullis (1989), Root (1988) and Shenkar and Zeira (1987) recognized that the term ‘strategic alliances’ already was becoming little more than a buzzword. These definitional ambiguities are a major source of difficulty when comparing the results of different studies (Terpstra and Simonin, 1993). In light of confusion created by this proliferation of terms, we favor the use of the more universal and inclusive term ‘inter-organizational collaboration,’ or simply ‘alliances.’ Although many definitional propositions exist, their practical value may be quite limited. Rather, researchers should focus on the key variables that help frame the boundaries of collaboration. In Figure 27.2, these key variables are: alliance form, mode, governance, scope, number of partners, and cycle. Alliance form (Terpstra and Simonin, 1993) refers to the structural organization of the alliance along an equity continuum from no equity involved to full equity ...