Alliance‐building Process as Inhibiting Factor for SME International Alliances

Abstract

This study examines how the alliance-building process affects the intention to enter into international alliances in the case of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). From a psychological perspective (Perceived Behavioural Control), the authors analyse the alliance-building process as an inhibitor of the international collaboration intention, considering to what extent the experience affects the intention of the partners involved. The study explores these hypotheses based on a sample of 220 Spanish SMEs. The results provide empirical evidence showing that the intention to develop international alliances is negatively affected by the search and the selection process as well as by the negotiation of the agreement, which reduces the intention to establish an international agreement. In addition, the intention is moderated by the experience of the SME manager. Moreover, there is a negative relationship between the extent of the SME manager's international experience and the intention to develop an international alliance.

International Business and Entrepreneurship Implications of Brexit

“…Prior evidence shows that immigration spurs entrepreneurship (Fairlie and Lofstrom, 2015) and cross-border investment flows (Iriyama, Li and Madhavan, 2010;Madhavan and Iriyama, 2009). By contrast, legal barriers, such as barriers to immigration and trade, hurt the impact of entrepreneurship on economic growth (Cumming, Johan and Zhang, 2014;Zahra, 2014) since there is less alliance building with international entrepreneurs and their investors (Arranz, Arroyabe and de Arroyabe, 2016;Siegel and Wright, 2015) and a worsening of entrepreneurial gover-nance and investment outcomes in the face of legal and institutional constraints (Cumming, Schmidt and Walz, 2010;Li and Zahra, 2012). The first look at evidence specific to Brexit is consistent with this literature (Schiereck and Tielmann, 2016), such that UK and continental European firms were both hurt by Brexit, and UK firms were more negatively affected than their continental counterparts.…”

How Partner Characteristics Can Affect Performance of Alliances with Different Time Frames?

“…Although literature has debated vastly on diverse benefits of alliances for engaging firms, these benefits could be summarized in superior competitive position in international markets. Despite the advantages offered by international strategic alliances, however empirical evidence shows few successful alliances (Bierly & Gallagher, 2007;Arranz, Arroyabe, & de Arroyabe, 2016), especially from developing economies context (Li & Ferreira, 2008). EJBE 2017, 10(20)…”

“…It is supposed that even outstanding strategic alliance management may not be sufficient to overcome poor partner selection (Cummings & Holmberg, 2012). According to Arranz, Arroyabe, and de Arroyabe (2016), the alliance cooperation itself is not a guarantee of successful entry in international markets and searching, choosing and coordinating of partners has a pivotal role in attainment of desired goals.…”

“…How we could prioritize the importance of varied partner characteristics for different time frame of alliances? Many recent researches posit that strategic alliances' outcome depends on partner characteristics, but limited studies specifically examine the role of various partner characteristics on alliance outcome (Nielsen, 2003;Wyatt, Pathak & Zibarras, 2010;Arranz, Arroyabe, & de Arroyabe, 2016). So, when we talk at the level of international business, the most significant outcome of international strategic alliance manifested in the performance of alliance, namely, export performance of alliance.…”

Proposal of a Model of Strategic Alliances to Strengthen Microenterprises

“…The main reason for strategic alliances is to share resources, costs and risks in operations (Arranz et al, 2016), in order to achieve mutual benefit among their participants (Piguave, 2016, Ariño, 2008, and to improve their capacity for competition and innovation. Strategic alliances also offer business opportunities and are fundamental because creativity is exploited due to the scarcity of economic resources.…”