Title: The role of knowledge governance in strategic alliances

Authors: Bo Bernhard Nielsen

Addresses: Center for Strategic Management and Globalization, Copenhagen Business School, Copenhagen, Denmark; School of Marketing, University of Technology Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Abstract: Given that research on strategic collaboration between firms, as well as knowledge management, has received increasing attention in the research literature, it is surprising that few attempts have been made to link knowledge management processes to the effective management of strategic alliances. The vast majority of studies on strategic alliance governance neglect to address the interrelated knowledge management processes involved in collaboration and focus on the firm-level characteristics rather than the underpinning, micro-level coordinating mechanisms. This paper develops a conceptual model for exploring the role played by knowledge in the process of strategic alliance development. Building on the emerging knowledge governance approach, the model focuses on the dynamic interaction among process variables in an attempt to examine the coordinating mechanisms through which interfirm knowledge processes are managed.

Keywords: knowledge management; knowledge governance; cooperative relationships; coordination; strategic alliances; micro-level mechanisms; alliance performance; strategic collaboration.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSCM.2010.034410

International Journal of Strategic Change Management, 2010 Vol.2 No.2/3, pp.102 - 127

Published online: 02 Aug 2010 *

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