The relationship between organizational learning and firms' financial performance in strategic alliances: A contingency approach

This study examines the relationship between organizational learning and firm-level financial performance in the context of strategic alliances. The strength of the relationship is also examined in light of possible moderating effects of the form, scope, and competitive regime of the alliance. On the whole, results from a survey of 127 German partnering firms support a contingency approach to firm performance using structural equation modeling. Results suggest a significant, positive, and strong relationship between organizational learning and financial performance. This positive relationship is stronger in joint ventures and weaker in contractual alliances. Also, the relationship is stronger when the partners are based on the same industry and weaker when they are across industries. However, while it is proposed that the above relationship will be stronger in alliances with broader scope, the empirical results only partially support this hypothesis. (C) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.