Antecedents and Performance Consequences of Learning Success

In the past five years, the number of international alliances has grown by more than 25 per cent annually. Further, researchers argue that the greatest change in the way business is being conducted is in the accelerating growth of relationships based not on ownership but on partnership. In transition economies such as China and Malaysia foreign partners normally bring in technology and ‘management know-how’. However, since foreign partners are operating outside their national borders, they face the disadvantage of being foreign which stems from the lack of local knowledge of the host country’s political, economic and social environment. To counter this disadvantage the foreign partners in an IJV need to acquire local knowledge of the host country. From the foreign partners’ perspective, success in learning and acquiring the local knowledge of the host country is vital for its survival and the sustenance of its competitive advantage in the market. Interviewing hundreds of foriegn managers from Australia, Japan, GB, Germany and USA this book examines antecedents of learning success in IJVs and its relationship with IJV business performance.