Capabilities for Collaborative Innovation of Technological Alliance: A Knowledge-Based View

Employing grounded theory methodology, this article investigates collaborative innovation based on interview and secondary data collected from a technology alliance. The findings reveal that alliance-specific capabilities and knowledge-based capabilities are the two critical drivers. Alliance-specific capabilities include such components as alliance management, mutual learning, and alliance innovation; while knowledge-based capabilities refer to knowledge-centered activities of exploration, exchange, integration, and exploitation. Further, the two types of capabilities interact with each other in creating a technological knowledge base through mobilizing knowledge and in, ultimately, producing technological innovation. Taken together, this article extends the existing literature of technology alliance by providing a knowledge-based, capability-building view in unpacking collaborative innovation. It also provides implications for managers who aim to enhance technological innovation via alliance cooperation.