Learning alliances have become an increasingly important strategic option for firms to achieve competitive advantage. Yet most alliances fail and are terminated early without their obtaining the desired common goals. Or, partners learn privately for areas unrelated to the alliance – an undesirable alliance outcome. How can managers successfully manage common learning and increase awareness for partners learning privately? Based on theoretical findings and supported by a case study the author designs a simulation model considering competitive and cooperative policies to analyze the dynamics of learning alliances. With this model the author identifies a tipping point that determines the success or failure of an alliance. Simulation runs lead to a series of important managerial findings for policy-designers and decision-makers.

The Author: Florian Kapmeier was born in Bückeburg (Germany) in 1973. After studying Technically Oriented Business Administration at the Universität Stuttgart (Germany) he worked as a Ph.D. Student and Assistant Lecturer for the Chair of General Business Administration, Corporate Planning and Strategic Management at this university. As a visiting scholar with the System Dynamics Group at the MIT Sloan School of Management, Cambridge (USA) he worked with System Dynamics specialists on alliance dynamics. He holds a Dr. rer. pol. from the Faculty of Management, Economics, and Social Sciences at the Universität Stuttgart.