Obtaining collaboration benefits: the role of collaboration-specific investment and absorptive capacity in China

Chung Yean Chiang, Mark Hanna, Zhenyu Liu, Xiangyu Lu

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study examines the role of collaboration-specific investment and absorptive capacity on the attainment of interorganizational collaboration benefits. Grounded in the extended resource-based view, and using survey data from Chinese executives, we study the driver for, and test the impacts of, collaboration-specific investment and organizational learning on collaboration performance. Our findings indicate that resource similarity between the collaborative partners affects the level of collaboration-specific investment and learning, and demonstrate an approach that firms can use to obtain both abnormal common and private benefits from participation in an interorganizational collaboration. Specifically, the findings suggest that collaboration-specific investment has a direct effect on the enhancement of absorptive capacity and attainment of common and private collaboration benefits. Furthermore, due to the direct effect of absorptive capacity on attainment of collaboration benefits, commitment of collaboration-specific investment has an indirect effect on the attainment of common and private collaboration benefits. This study is the first to apply both the competence-capability framework and extended resource-based view to study interorganizational collaboration. In fact, this study aims to determine mechanisms for a collaboration-participating firm to obtain more benefit, whether common or private. Our findings provide support for the importance of learning capability as a factor in the acquisition of collaboration benefits.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)69-82
Number of pages14
JournalOperations Management Research
Volume11
Issue number3-4
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1 2018

Scopus Subject Areas

  • Strategy and Management
  • Management Science and Operations Research
  • Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
  • Management of Technology and Innovation

Keywords

  • Competence-capability framework
  • Extended resource-based view
  • Interorganizational collaboration
  • Organizational learning
  • Private benefit
  • Structural equation modeling

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