STRATEGIC ALLIANCES AS "VIRTUAL INTEGRATION": A LONGITUDINAL EXPLORATION OF BIOTECH INDUSTRY-LEVEL LEARNING.

Cognitive maps trace biotech's recent adoption of strategic alliances as means of "virtual integration" for participating firms. This paper argues that industry-level learning occurs and resides in "industry recipes," and that investigating these recipes deepens our understanding of how alliances become important strategic options in complex, fast-paced environments like biotechnology.