(Continued)
Organisation Theory
The research in this area emphasizes the technology and learning views of alliances. And the social network theory of alliances becomes more popular.
Organisational Learning
Organisational learning refers to the capability of organisations to acquire, disseminate, and retain new knowledge so as to improve future performance (Child and Faulkner, 1998), and is of particular interest if each partner possesses a different set of capabilities and experiences.
There are various levels of learning. Child and Faulkner (1998)indicate there are three levels of organisational learning: technical, systemic, and strategic. It can provide access to techniques, facilitate the transfer of new systems, and enhance a firms' ability to undertake new strategic initiatives. The distinction between 'collaborative' learning and 'competitive' learning (Hamel 1991). The collaborative learning allows firms to access to the other firm's know-how. Competitive learning is a consequence of each firm's attempt to learn as much as possible from the other, while offering as little as possible. Through organisational learning, the companies can develop their capabilities and create value. The both parners can achieve more values than simply one plus one.