ABSTRACT
Since the middle of the 1980s, there has been a rapid and steady increase in the number of technological mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and strategic alliances whose aim was technological learning and new knowledge creation (De Man and Duysters, 2005). The opportunity to gain access to complementary sources of innovation is often cited as a major reason for the increase in the number of M&As. This explanation is in line with both the resource-based view (Wernerfelt, 1984; Barney, 1986, 1991) and the knowledge-based view of the firms (Levitt and March, 1988; Nonaka, 1995; Conner and Prahalad, 1996; Grant, 1996; Cloodt et al., 2006). The former defines firms as a bundle of idiosyncratic and difficultto-trade assets and competencies (e.g. Grant, 1996). The latter, similarly, defines firms as social communities specialising in the effective and efficient creation and transfer of knowledge (Kogut and Zander, 1996). Both of these perspectives, however, point out path-dependency as a major driver in the development of firms’ competitive advantage and in the transformation of firms’ core competencies into firms’ core rigidities (Teece, 2007). Thus, the capacity to acquire or gain access to external sources of knowledge, in order to complement and integrate internal processes of development and innovation, is seen as a dynamic capability useful in sustaining firms’ competitiveness in fast-moving business environments.
