Ties that matter: The impact of alliance partner knowledge recombination novelty on knowledge utilization in R&D alliances

•Develops the concept of knowledge recombination novelty in an alliance context•Finds that unique component ties in alliance partner knowledge pools influence focal firm's knowledge utilization from this partner•Finds that focal firm's own experience with creating unique component ties does not moderate this main relationship•Highlights the importance of conceptualizing alliance partner knowledge pools as a set of interdependent components, rather than independent components