2014/10/22 by Yanfeng Zheng, Haibin Yang · 150 citations
Business, Management and Accounting · Decision Sciences · #Alliance #Business #Business Strategy and Innovation #Dynamism #Finance #Industrial organization #Innovation Diffusion and Forecasting #Innovation and Knowledge Management #Marketing #Political science #Portfolio
paper · doi:10.1111/joms.12112
published in Journal of Management Studies 52(2), 213-230 (Wiley)
openalex publication_date 2014/10/22 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/27
Abstract Does familiarity with alliance partners promote breakthrough innovations? This study draws on the literature of interorganizational routines to examine the impact of repeated R&D collaborations within a firm's alliance portfolio on its breakthrough innovations. Specifically, we contend that the benefits and liabilities of interorganizational routines, arising from alliance partner repeatedness at a firm's alliance portfolio level, lead to an inverted U ‐shaped relationship between alliance partner repeatedness and breakthrough innovations. Further, we build on the recent theoretical development of interorganizational routines to propose that technological dynamism will make the inverted U ‐shaped relationship steeper. Analyses of approximately 230 firms in the US biopharmaceutical industry from 1983 to 2002 support our hypotheses. Our findings provide important implications for research on alliance portfolio and management of firm innovation.