This study investigates how the configuration of rivals and collaborators within a firm’s alliance portfolio affects its speed of absorbing external knowledge (i.e., absorption speed). While prior research on learning alliances has predominantly focused on interfirm overall knowledge flows, we contend that absorption speed plays a critical role in technology-intensive industries where time-based competition is paramount. Additionally, most previous studies do not clearly distinguish a firm’s rivals from its collaborators within the alliance portfolio. Building on interorganizational learning theory, we propose that a simultaneous and balanced presence of both rivals and collaborators within a firm’s alliance portfolio, which we term relational ambidexterity, increases the firm’s speed of absorbing external knowledge. We further contend that while a firm’s internal knowledge variety strengthens the positive relationship between relational ambidexterity and absorption speed, the number of common third parties between a firm and its partner weakens this positive relationship. The results of an event history study of 467 firms in the pharmaceutical industry of the United States from 1990 to 2010 provide general support for our hypotheses.

本研究调查了公司联盟组合中竞争对手和合作者的配置如何影响其吸收外部知识的速度（即吸收速度）。虽然之前关于学习联盟的研究主要集中在公司间的整体知识流动上，但我们认为吸收速度在基于时间的竞争至关重要的技术密集型行业中起着至关重要的作用。此外，大多数先前的研究并没有清楚地区分公司的竞争对手与其联盟组合内的合作者。在组织间学习理论的基础上，我们提出，在一个公司的联盟组合中同时和平衡地存在竞争对手和合作者，我们称之为关系二元性，可以提高公司吸收外部知识的速度。我们进一步认为，虽然公司的内部知识多样性加强了关系二元性和吸收速度之间的正相关关系，但公司与其合作伙伴之间共同第三方的数量削弱了这种正相关关系。对 1990 年至 2010 年美国制药行业 467 家公司的事件历史研究结果为我们的假设提供了普遍支持。