The article explores how a company's ability to manage partnerships can give it a competitive edge in the high-tech industry. By studying over 2,000 research and development alliances made by 325 biotech firms, the researchers found that the type of partnership and the company's experience with alliances can impact its success in developing new products. They discovered that different types of partnerships require different management skills, and that companies improve their partnership abilities over time. This shows that having a strong alliance management capability can help high-tech ventures succeed, but they also need to be careful not to take on too many partnerships at once.