Local firm's learning in international alliances : selected industries in Thailand

Abstract

To identify variables that represent attributes of partner, relationship, and knowledge involving in international alliances and to empirically explore the associations between these attributes and the local firm's learning. This dissertation argues that the attributes of partner, relationship, and knowledge contribute to the learning of a local firm in an international alliance. The framework of the study was drawn on the literatures of organizational learning and strategic alliances. Two industries, i.e., electronics industry and vehicle parts industry, were selected because of their importance to the economy of Thailand in terms of export and technology transfer. To collect data for the analysis, a mail survey was conducted. A self-administered questionnaire was sent to 778 local firms in Thailand. The usable response rate was 14.39 percent. The method of principal components analysis was utilized to identify variable that represent the attributes of partner, relationship, and knowledge. Multiple regression analysis and multiple discriminant analysis were employed to test the hypotheses. The analysis revealed that partner attributes included cultural similarity, receptivity, and trust; relationship attributes included ownership structure, prior tie, and complementarity; knowledge attributes included ambiguity, trialability, and usage advantage. Results provided partial support for the contribution of partner attributes (i.e., receptivity and trust), relationship attributes (i.e., ownership structure), and knowledge attributes (i.e., ambiguity and usage advange) to the local firm's learning.