Improving dynamic capabilities through knowledge acquisition in international strategic alliances: moderating role of knowledge integration

The study examines the influence of knowledge acquisition from foreign partners on the firm's dynamic capabilities in the context of international strategic alliances. The study also explores the determinants of knowledge acquisition, i.e., cultural intelligence, language barriers, disagreements and workplace friendship, emanating from the nexus of local and foreign partners in international strategic alliances. Further, a mediating role of knowledge acquisition in transferring the effects of the aforementioned determinants on dynamic capabilities (the outcome) has also been studied. The paper also expounds the interplay between knowledge acquisition and dynamic capabilities of local organisations while taking knowledge integration as the critical moderating contingency. Data has been collected through a survey involving 370 engineers working in six leading engineering consultancy and construction firms fostering active international alliances for mega infrastructure projects in Pakistan. The findings add to the theoretical underpinnings by creating a link between determinants of organisational learning and its consequences, i.e., dynamic capabilities. Engineering companies working in international alliances can benefit from the findings of this research for designing strategies to enhance their knowledge-base and dynamic capabilities.