1. Learning in a Transcient Alliance: Learning enablers and obstacles to learning Daniela Rubio Rius 1, Katharina Näswall 1, Bernard Walker 2 & Joana Kuntz 1 1 Department of Psychology, University of Canterbury (UC), 2 Department of Management, Marketing and Entrepreneurship, UC Purpose To explore the process of learning and transfer of learning between same-industry partner organisations that formed an alliance to quickly respond to post-disaster demands. To discover what facilitates or obstructs transfer of knowledge and skills within the complexity of an alliance. To understand how innovations generated in the alliance are transferred back to their home organisations and what factors may hinder their transferability. Methodological Approach An inductive qualitative study with deductive analysis was carried out to compare emerging themes with extant literature in the domain of Learning Organisations, Strategic alliances, Leadership, Teams, Organisational Culture and Resilience. The resilience construct is of interest because of its resemblance to learning in its special characteristic of ‘adaptive capacity’ 1. Rich data was obtained from interviews with approx. 6% to 10% of staff from the two alliance partner members. Research Limitations Participants were selected by their managers, thus there is potential for bias. Yet former alliance members were also interviewed and congruence was found. In addition, convergence of themes is also observed when compared with archival data. Slow responses from participants prevented further refinement of interview questions during the data gathering process. However, pre- existing knowledge of the alliance through archival data resulted in a highly focused and contextualised interview schedule. Time and resource constraints limited the sample size, although this was mitigated by its representativeness. This study provides some insights into the complexity of the phenomenon of learning in an alliance. Originality Although scholars from Management, Education, and Psychology have done some research in the domain of learning, little is known about how people learn and transfer knowledge in alliances, particularly in an alliance comprised of same-industry organisations that are joined to address community needs following a major natural disaster. References: 1 Weick, K. E., & Sutcliffe, K. M. (2007). Managing the unexpected: Resilient performance in an age of uncertainty (2 nd ed.). San Francisco, California: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2 Amy, A. H. (2008). Leaders as facilitators of individual and organizational learning. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 29, 212-234; Crick, R. D., Haigney, d., Huang, S., Coburn, T., & Goldspink, C. (2013). Learning power in the workplace: The effective lifelong learning inventory and its reliability and validity and implications for learning and development. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 24, 2255-2272. Contact information: Daniela Rubio Rius Department of Psychology University of Canterbury dani.rius@pg.canterbury.ac.nz http://www.psyc.canterbury.ac.nz/research/empres/ Preliminary Findings Supportive leadership, a learning organisational culture and team collaboration have been found to promote adaptive learning (Fig. 1). This is congruent with previous research 2. High competition between alliance partner organisations might inhibit, as opposed to enhance, knowledge sharing between partners when too much emphasis is placed on rewards. Learning is enhanced by an environment supportive of trial and error methods, and an organisational culture that encourages proactivity, collaboration, and learning from each other. A climate of learning enabled by an organisational learning culture allows for employees’ increased adaptability to change, resilience, and thus those organisations are more likely to keep their business alive and thriving. Practical Implications Understanding more about how people learn, what enhances the learning process and what hinders transfer of knowledge can increase awareness of leaders of the benefits of providing an environment conducive to learning as well as avoid the perils of overly simplifying the impact of focussing on competition rather than collaboration. Future research should compare learning dynamics in single organisations with those in alliance partner organisations. Longitudinal or experimental designs may help identify differences in employee learning and organisational outcomes when comparing learning organisations with more conservative organisations.