{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,24]],"date-time":"2026-03-24T07:06:36Z","timestamp":1774335996602,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":66,"publisher":"Emerald","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,7,20]],"date-time":"2020-07-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1595203200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/site-policies"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JKM"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,21]]},"abstract":"Purpose<\/jats:title>This study aims to empirically investigate the role of contracts in tacit knowledge acquisition in research and development (R&D) alliances. By combining the perspectives of sensemaking and transaction cost economics (TCE), this study proposes a model about the mechanisms through which shared goals and contract completeness jointly affect tacit knowledge acquisition.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>Design\/methodology\/approach<\/jats:title>This study adopted a quantitative design and used the questionnaire survey method to collect data. The authors finally collected data on 196\u2009R&D alliance samples in China. Multiple regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>Findings<\/jats:title>There is strong empirical support that contract completeness has a positive effect on shared goals and that shared goals have a positive effect on tacit knowledge acquisition. Meanwhile, contract completeness weakens the positive effect of shared goals on tacit knowledge acquisition. Therefore, this study reveals that contract completeness has an inverted U-shaped effect on tacit knowledge acquisition.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>Practical implications<\/jats:title>The findings suggest that managers should consider both the psychological and rational effects of contract governance simultaneously, thus recognizing the importance of a moderate level of contract completeness for tacit knowledge acquisition in R&D alliances.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>Originality\/value<\/jats:title>This study enhances the current understanding of contract governance by integrating the sensemaking and TCE perspectives. The findings provide a possible explanation of how contracts affect tacit knowledge acquisition in R&D alliances. The authors expand the research on contract governance and alliance knowledge acquisition by revealing the inverted U-shaped relationship between contract governance and tacit knowledge acquisition.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1108\/jkm-02-2020-0130","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,7,17]],"date-time":"2020-07-17T11:11:54Z","timestamp":1594984314000},"page":"989-1005","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":21,"title":["How does contract completeness affect tacit knowledge 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