Antecedents of SME alliance performance: a multilevel review

Rohit Prabhudesai and Ch. V.V.S.N.V. Prasad

Management Research Review, 2017, vol. 40, issue 12, 1261-1279

Abstract: Purpose - The purpose of this study is to classify and analyze the impact of antecedents studied in the extant literature on two levels of SME alliance performance – alliance-level and firm-level. Design/methodology/approach - Using online databases and the bibliography section of the selected articles, 45 peer-reviewed studies specifically analyzing the impact of antecedents on the performance of SME alliances at the two levels were studied to gain insights. Findings - The study differentiates between the impact of antecedents on the two levels of SME alliance performance, alliance-level and firm-level, and finds that certain antecedents, such as absorptive capacity, corporate entrepreneurship, control, network dimensions, partner opportunism and partner reputation, have a peculiar impact on a single level while other antecedents such as trust, commitment and cooperation, have an influence on performance at both levels. Also, the impact of these antecedents is hypothesized to be weak or strong, depending upon the results obtained by the papers in the review. Research limitations/implications - In a first-of-its-kind approach, the paper provides a conceptual insight into the differentiating impact of antecedents on SME alliance performance at both levels, as opposed to the unitary analysis approach used in the extant literature. The model provided by the study can be used by researchers to gain a systematic understanding of how alliance outcomes are affected. Practical implications - While the extant literature remains largely ambiguous on the role of antecedents causing variance in SME alliance outcomes, this paper serves to bridge this gap and enhance the understanding of practitioners by systematically analyzing how specific antecedents affect SME alliance performance at both levels. Originality/value - As opposed to the unitary approach used in the extant literature, which does not differentiate between the two levels of SME alliance performance, this paper arranges and categorizes these studies based on the level at which alliance performance has been analyzed. Furthermore, the paper identifies the impact of antecedents at each level, thereby providing pioneering insights on understanding SME alliance outcomes.

Keywords: Alliance performance; Antecedents of SME alliance performance; Entrepreneurship and small business management; Small firm alliance performance; SME alliance outcomes; SME alliance performance; SME alliances (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (text/html)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:mrrpps:mrr-12-2016-0286

DOI: 10.1108/MRR-12-2016-0286

Access Statistics for this article

Management Research Review is currently edited by Dr Jay Janney and Prof Lerong He

More articles in Management Research Review from Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Emerald Support ().