2.6 Learning/Knowledge as a capability
More than just a capability, learning can increasingly be viewed as something, which when facilitated by knowledge transfers promotes evolutionary capabilities that stimulate competitive success. This in turn places great importance on the need to consider the way in which alliances can foster the environment needed for such transfer to take place. Reflecting upon the very notion of a capability, Helfat and Peteraf (2003) argue that for knowledge to be a capability it must 'change a resource base, be embedded and form a routine' (p.34). In this instance, knowledge needs to do something in the alliance and is therefore an active process to facilitate change. Taking this one step further, knowledge and learning can be positioned as a dynamic capability, a capability that allows an organisation to mitigate dynamism in the external business environment.
A focus on learning within the alliance can be a positive thing for change and a commitment to such learning has been noted by Easterby Smith and Preito (2008) to be something which harnesses individual level employee commitment. During an alliance, there may be concerns surrounding the viability or security of the alliance and thus a focus on learning allows for employees to feel invested in to then invest in the alliance. A commitment of learning in this vein is therefore needed to be able to foster individual level passion and motivation to actively share knowledge in the first instance.
To view learning and the exchange of knowledge as a capability further requires a focus on treating the alliance from a systems perspective to ensure that knowledge transfers or a commitment to knowledge are not contained within one part of the organisation only. The systems view therefore entails that all members of the two firms are committed to learning and have been facilitated to exchange knowledge to enhance capabilities.
Knowledge transfers within strategic alliances have been strongly linked in the literature to performance (Hamel, 1991; Howard, Steensma, Lyles & Dhanaraj, 2015). In order to examine this type of knowledge exchange, emphasis has to be placed on the need to look at and consider intra-organisational knowledge which is defined by Calantone, Cavusgil & Zhao (2002: 520) to be 'the collective beliefs or behavioural routines related to the spread of learning among different units within an organisation'. This is a core part of knowledge exchange where knowledge transfers must be open and fluid. This may be achieved by the facilitation of sharing knowledge throughout departments perhaps, for example, through mixed representation at departmental meetings. As seen in the work of Moorman and Miner (1998) this is a necessary and fundamental foundation upon which knowledge transfers must be built.
2.7 Challenges of international strategic alliances in China
China is a transitional economy and as a result any interaction with this country is as Tian (2016) articulates 'a daunting challenge' (p.23). Such a strategic decision in an emerging economy can in itself raise a number of challenges, which a firm has to respond to in order to draw out the benefits of international strategic alliances. Johnson et al (2014) argue that firms
