Organizational learning, commitment, and joint value creation in interfirm relationships

In this study, we underline the importance of distinguishing firm-specific and collaboration-specific benefits in managing interfirm relationships. We propose that strong commitment to collaboration enables firms to transform their idiosyncratic resources into higher rents for the alliance as well as themselves. We extend the organizational learning inquiry into an alliance setting and identify three factors that can facilitate commitment in interfirm relationships. The findings reinforce the importance of organizational commitment in generating higher value in interfirm relationships. We also examine some contingencies in which commitment may affect alliance performance and firm performance distinctively. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.