Learning Through Cross-Border Manufacturing Alliances

The research focused on cross-border contract manufacturing alliances between Taiwanese IT suppliers and their MNC buyers, aiming to answer the following questions: 1) To what extent does inter-partner interaction affect the process and results of inter-organizational learning? 2) What are the logic and mechanism behind the 'interaction-learning' effect? Based on the results of a questionnaire survey, significant learning effects were found within alliances between Taiwanese IT suppliers and their foreign buyers. Regression results strongly suggested that 'interaction' and 'communication' are the determinants of suppliers' learning. The results support the existence of an 'interaction-learning' effect in alliances which contributes to inter-partner learning. Inter-personal interaction between organizations is the prerequisite of inter-partner learning. When joint tasks require intensive interaction, the resource-limited partners tend to benefit from allying with the resource-abundant partners, and it is very difficult to control this 'capability leakage'.