exploitative learning

Technological learning and the drive to self-sufficiency in different industries emphasize the role of companies in the knowledge acquisition from external sources. Iran's petroleum industry is also a suitable case to study in this area, given the large firms on the one hand and the long-term historical partnerships with foreign companies on the other. Some of the industry's achievements, such as sustainability under sanctions, the country's largest source of export and some recent breakthroughs, particularly in the registration of international patents and localization of various technologies, show the success of learning efforts. This study, which examines the learning processes to joint R&D (JRD) projects in the petroleum industry, analyzes the path of technological learning in this industry using a mixed method approach and multi case study method. For this purpose, four successful JRD projects in technological learning in upstream and downstream are selected and 16 interviews are conducted with project managers and experts of selected projects and using the JRD's life cycle to present a technological learning model in JRDs. The results of theme analysis of interviews show that the most important and effective component of the model is "effective factors". The most affected component is "types of learning". Also, the most effective factors and the most effective learning mechanism are "absorption capability", "cultural homogeneity" and "learning by interacting" Respectively.

Learning in collaboration projects with universities is one of the common methods in recent decades. Some of these projects have led to learning for industries, while others have suffered from a lack of learning. Most of the studies that have examined the dimensions and factors affecting the performance of these projects have been done in developed countries. However, considering the different nature of learning in developing countries, this issue needs more attention. This paper addresses two basic issues, namely the factors that affect the learning of companies in collaboration projects with universities in developing countries and the things that industries in these countries learn from universities. To answer these questions, 9 collaboration projects with universities in Iranian oil, gas, and petrochemical industries were selected, 15 experts active in the industry, academia, and government related to these projects were interviewed, and the data was analyzed by thematic analysis. Twenty five factors affecting learning were classified into 6 groups, the most important of which were collaboration control mechanisms, rules and procedures, university business model, degree of partnership between the parties, fitness of the content of the collaboration to the industry features, trust between the parties, and competence of the university team leader. The results also showed that companies in developing countries usually pursue exploitative learning in collaboration projects with universities. In these countries, mature industries active in older technologies typically pursue exploitative learning, and new technology-based firms seek explorative learning in collaborations.