How Alliance Partners Learn: The Role of Collaborative Experience and Market Orientation

Alliances are becoming more important in international business. The literature on learning and alliances has increased as the alliance literature has shifted to focusing on the role that learning plays in fostering alliance relationships. Congruent to this increase in the alliance learning literature has been the increase in the marketing literature on market orientation. However, limited research has been conducted on how collaborative experience influences a firm’s market orientation; and the role that learning plays in facilitating this relationship. The aim of this paper is to examine the linkages between collaborative experience (in terms of the frequency, intensity, longevity and type of collaboration) and market orientation (in terms of information acquisition, information dissemination and behaviour responsiveness). The paper posits that the relationship is continual and can be analysed conceptually through feedback loops. Key directions for future research stemming from the conceptual framework are also examined.