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Knowledge creation and application in technology collaboration portfolio: Two cases in China

Yang Liu (School of Business Administration, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China)
Ying Ying (School of Business Administration, Zhejiang University of Finance & Economics, Hangzhou, China)
Wen Pan Fagerlin (Institution of Economic Research, Lund University, Lund, Sweden)

Chinese Management Studies

ISSN: 1750-614X

Publication date: 2 November 2015

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims at developing a better understanding of the different mechanisms that affect technology collaboration portfolio management. How do firms manage their technology collaboration portfolio? Despite some thoughtful scholars have advanced the understanding of the phenomenon of technology collaboration portfolio, there is not much research that has been done in terms of understanding the endeavors of firms when they collectively use a range of actors for the best interests of the firms. Additionally, little attention has been paid to the trade-offs and managing mechanisms for the collaborations between different partners from a portfolio-level perspective, especially in emerging markets.

Design/methodology/approach

A multiple-case study of two Chinese high-tech firms, an inductive approach.

Findings

The authors identified three primary mechanisms that underlie successful knowledge creation and application in technology collaboration portfolio context: informally mobilizing boundary-spanning brokers for domestic academic collaborations, formally institutionalizing learning activities for industry collaborations and integrating formal and informal mechanisms for technology collaborations between focused firms and foreign organizations.

Originality/value

The authors extend the line of organizational ambidexterity literature with a focus on strategic alliance, proposing that firms need to balance academic and industry collaborations from a portfolio level. Moreover, the authors intend to extend the literature of alliance portfolio by suggesting three different learning mechanisms of managing different technology collaborations for the purpose of balancing successful knowledge creation and application.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Professor C.T. Foo, Weiwei Wu, and reviewers for helpful comments on the draft of the manuscript. The authors also appreciate the thoughtful comments of seminar participants at Lund University and Zhejiang University, and also participants of the 2013 Organizational Learning, Knowledge and Capabilities conference. Financial supports from Planning Project of Philosophy and Social Science of Zhejiang Province (No. 15NDJC115YB), and National Natural Science Foundation of China(No. 71502160 & 71502065) are also acknowledged.

Citation

Liu, Y., Ying, Y. and Fagerlin, W.P. (2015), "Knowledge creation and application in technology collaboration portfolio: Two cases in China", Chinese Management Studies, Vol. 9 No. 4, pp. 571-588. https://doi.org/10.1108/CMS-07-2014-0134

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Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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