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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Exploring the relationships between tangible and intangible resources in a learning alliance dynamics: comment on the paper by Kapmeier

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Kapmeier (2008) focuses his research on common learning and firms’ opportunistic behaviour in learning alliances. A strategic alliance, as clearly stated by Gulati (1998, p. 293) is a voluntary arrangement between firms to exchange and share knowledge as well as resources with the intent of developing processes, products or services. This is a relevant topic not only for those firms that operate in industries characterized typically by high RD Larsson et al., 1998). Furthermore, this literature essentially takes a static view and it often neglects the postformation dynamics of alliances (Koza and Lewin, 2000; Das and Teng, 2001). Some key questions not yet profoundly investigated are: how can alliances best be managed or adapted? What does generate the achievement or the anticipate dissolution of an alliance?What are the future implications for a firm that adopts an opportunistic behaviour? To investigate learning alliances and to outline its characteristics, Kapmeier (2008) mainly SystemsResearch andBehavioral Science Syst. Res.25, 575^579 (2008) Published online inWiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com)DOI:10.1002/sres.907