Proceedings of 7th Global Business and Social Science Research Conference
13 - 14 June, 2013, Radisson Blu Hotel, Beijing, China, ISBN: 978-1-922069-26-9
The Determinants for Knowledge Acquisition in
International Strategic Alliances: the Evidence from Saudi
Arabian Firms
Mushal Almasaad and Li Dong
We examine the determinants for knowledge acquisition in
international strategic alliances (ISAs) in a sample of 134 Saudi ISAs
using questionnaire data obtained from Saudi partners. It is found that
knowledge acquisition by Saudi partners is negatively related to the
extent to which the knowledge of foreign partners is tacit, and is
positively related to the extent to which there is a higher level of
communication between Saudi firms and foreign partners. The
number of foreign expatriates working in Saudi ISA partners, and the
level of trust between top managers of Saudi firms and foreign
partners, however, are found to have no impact on the knowledge
acquisition by Saudi ISA partners. Implications for researchers and
managers are provided.
Keywords: International Business Management, Strategy
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Mushal Almasaad, PhD Candidate, School of Management, Royal Holloway, University of London.
Dr Li Dong(Corresponding author), Lecturer in International Business, School of Management, Royal
Holloway, University of London, Email: Li.Dong@rhul.ac.uk