DOES THE DIVERSITY OF PARTNERS IN ALLIANCES GUARANTEES INNOVATION PERFORMANCE? THE INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL CAPITAL AND KNOWLEDGE CODIFIABILITY ON SUCH RELATIONSHIP

Alliances are increasingly considered a key issue for innovation, especially in knowledge-intensive firms. While this is true, the mere membership to alliances does not explain innovation performance, and thus the alliance’s characteristics that determine high performance must be examined. Our research address the question of how the diversity of partners in a certain alliance for innovation affects innovation performance, and how this influence can be moderated by certain characteristics, such as the social capital and type of knowledge shared among partners. The empirical analysis of a sample of 90 biotech companies shows that diversity, on its own, does not explain alliance performance. Instead, social capital and codified knowledge, as moderating variables, may help reap the benefits of diversity. This effect is not unlimited, so beyond a certain level of diversity, the moderating variables become less effective.