Knowledge transfer and global strategic alliance membership : market versus institutional criteria

This conceptual paper analyzes the issues of new partner selection for an existing global strategic alliance, and how this complex process determines the effectiveness of inter-organizational knowledge transfer. First, we show that effective inter-organizational knowledge transfer requires evaluation criteria for new members, which combine market as well as cultural and institutional factors, e.g., a so-called “dual criteria approach”. Second, we analyze forces that propel existing global strategic alliances to place more emphasis on such cultural and institutional criteria besides market ones in the knowledge transfer process. Third, we examine factors that can be used or considered as valid indicators for an applicant’s cultural and institutional identity, which drive the effectiveness of future inter-organizational knowledge transfer in global strategic alliances.