Hnowledge Development in Strategic Alliances

result in a transfer of the partner’s tacit knowledge-the implicitly understood norms and rules that guide operating procedures within a firm. Learning a partner’s tacit knowledge can help a firm learn more about its own strengths and weaknesses. To maximize the value of knowledge gained o convince management of the value of learning from that particular partner; and prepare employees to enter the collaboration with an intent to learn, thereby maximizing “absorptive capacity.” A well-developed CI strategy also can alert managers to potential problems that can result, for instance, from a lack of complementary resources or the absence of shared, strategic goals, and can help avoid alliances with partners whose primary intent is to acquire your firm’s technical knowledge to use as a competitive weapon.