Capability evolution and governance in alliance portfolios: Evidence from an emergent industry

We study how the evolution of alliance portfolio capabilities is affected by the choice of governance mode. We argue that, in new technological domains, portfolio capability diversity'the partners' mix of skills'follows a path of initial increase centered on exploratory learning, followed by a decrease focused on exploitative learning. Importantly, the rate at which capability diversity peaks depends upon the dominant mode of alliance governance. The greater asset specificity and interdependence in strongly governed alliances constrain the scope of external capabilities available to the firm and accelerate partner-specific learning, leading to an earlier peak in capability diversity than in portfolios with weakly governed alliances. These ideas are supported in our analysis of 760 alliance portfolios from the fuel cell industry, suggesting that governance choices can lead to heterogeneity in firm capabilities.