Types of Knowledge Transferred Within International Interfirm Alliances in the Nigerian Oil Industry and the Potential to Develop Partners’ Innovation Capacity

This study focuses on exploring the nature of inter-organizational learning and the types of knowledge that are transferred/shared between foreign multinational companies (MNCs) and their local partner firms within international interfirm alliances in developing countries, particularly those operating in the Nigerian oil industry. The aim is to identify/examine the types/quality of knowledge transfer and the viability of interfirm knowledge transfer for boosting the knowledge base and innovation capacity of the alliance partner firms, particularly of the local partner firms, in such a distinctive type of international alliances. Using a qualitative case study research method, four cases of international interfirm collaborative arrangements between foreign and local companies in the Nigerian oil industry were studied. The findings of this study show that the local partner firms in the alliances were able to access and acquire mainly technological and international market knowledge through the collaborations, but not managerial knowledge. Contrary to the extant theory/literature, the foreign partner firms did not seek to acquire local market knowledge from the local firms but clearly demonstrated “knowledge transfer willingness” that facilitated the acquisition of knowledge by the local firms in the alliances. However, the technological and international market knowledge acquired by local firms were limited to mainly the explicit dimension of the knowledge. In effect, the local partners in this study mainly acquired explicit technological and international market knowledge with limited tacit knowledge. A key implication of this finding can be a reduced ability to develop innovation capacity through alliances. This paper, therefore, highlights the necessity for an increased focus on tacit knowledge acquisition by local partner firms and the importance of utilizing appropriate learning mechanisms to achieving tacit knowledge acquisition through the collaborations.