Essays on capability development through alliances

As a result of the surging rate of technological innovation in the last decades, firms in high-technology industries increasingly rely on alliances to tap into external knowledge sources and to develop new products and services. While alliances are of vital importance to many firms to develop new capabilities, they also inflict substantial economic costs to firms engaging in these activities, making effective design and management of alliance strategies crucial. Nevertheless, empirical evidence about the specific strategies for firms to benefit from alliances as well as about how firms make alliance formation decisions remains inconclusive. To address these issues, the three studies in this dissertation explore the antecedents and consequences of capability development through alliances in high-technology industries. By illuminating the antecedents and outcomes of different knowledge utilization strategies in alliances, the findings of this dissertation aim to improve the understanding and management of strategic alliances and provide actionable guidelines to managers and other corporate stakeholders in shaping the corporate development strategies of their firms.