Alliance learning process and alliance success: the moderating role of openness

Purpose Industry and academia are interested to understand how companies develop alliance capabilities through managing the knowledge, for alliance success. This study aims to investigate how alliance learning process is related to the overall success of any alliance, and how openness culture moderates the relationship of alliance learning process and alliance success. Design/methodology/approach English language questionnaires were sent to top executives of 400 companies because English is a commonly understood language at managerial level in Pakistani companies. In total, 186 usable answers were received. Hierarchical linear regression was used for hypothesis testing. Findings Alliance learning is significantly and positively related to alliance success. Openness plays a role as moderator between the relationship of alliance learning process and alliance success. Contrary to the literature, at low level of alliance learning, high level of openness increases the chances of alliance but as we move toward high level of alliance leaning, low level of openness is more effective to achieve the alliance success. Research limitations/implications The data in this study was collected from Pakistan. The results may not be generalized to other regions, especially to developed countries. Practical implications The results have implications for managers involved in alliances. They can be benefitted by this study to understand the role of alliance (knowledge) learning process on alliance success and contingent role of openness on this relationship. Originality/value This study is an important contribution to understand the notion of organizational learning and knowledge management in alliance context. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to investigate openness as a moderator of the relationship between alliance learning process and alliance success.