The effects of a focal firm's internal and external boundary conditions on the performance implication of R&D alliance participation

Although the influence of the technological diversity of R&D alliance partners on a focal firm's performance has been discussed for several years, there are no sufficient consistent evidences to support the notion that technological diversity of partners has specific effect on the focal firm's performance. This study therefore tests hypotheses with multi-industry data on 1416 R&D alliances formed by US firms between 1990 and 2006. The findings of the present study indicate that (1) technological diversity of R&D partners has negative effect on the focal firm's performance; (2) the external (environmental dynamism) and internal (the focal firm's exploratory orientation) boundary conditions positively moderate, respectively, the impact of technological diversity of R&D partners on a focal firm's performance; (3) the cofigurational effect of external and internal boundary conditions further highlights significance of exploratory learning and inter-organizational learning opportunities in dynamic environment.