The impact of relative centrality and technology diversity on inter-firm technological alliances

This study develops an inter-firm alliance network based for understanding of technological embeddedness and inter-firm technological alliances in biomedical-based industry. Interfirm alliance technological networks are strategic decisions to help focal biomedical firms access the technology resources that they need. Specifically, we consider exploration learning capability as a primary drive force for the advance scientific knowledge and technology acquisition and alliance. We demonstrate that the relative centrality position and technology diversity are contingent on interfirm technology alliances. We thus further explore how the moderating roles of relative centrality positions and technology diversity separately and jointly affect inter-firm technology alliances. More importantly, this study examines whether exploration learning in inter-firm collaboration benefits a firm's technology alliances and whether those benefits depend on how such learning fits the firm's relative centrality position and technology diversity. The empirical results show that relative centrality positions and technology diversity are significantly positively and negatively associated with successful inter-firm technology alliances, respectively. The empirical findings show that firms in inter-firm technology alliances not only depend on exploration learning capability but are also contingent upon relative network positions and technology diversity. Our results indicate the need for focal biomedical firms to assess their technological alliances it based on network positions and technology diversity. We discuss the implications of these finding for research on inter-firm technology alliance.