Motives for and modes of interfirm technological cooperation: an empirical study of China's high-technology SMEs

Dan Chen and Azhdar Karami

International Journal of Business Information Systems, 2008, vol. 3, issue 6, 624-636

Abstract: The main purposes of this paper are to identify the nature of primary motives for interfirm technological collaborations and examine the relationship between involvement in interfirm technological collaborations and firms' characteristics. More specifically, the interest of this study is to look at innovation-oriented cooperative activities in high-tech industries pursued by Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). This research is based on an empirical survey of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and their perception of the firms' involvement in interfirm collaboration in high-tech SMEs operating in the electronics industry in China. Postal questionnaire is the main data collection instrument for this research. A combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches has been employed for data analysis. The important conclusion reached is that there is significant correlation between primary motives for interfirm technological collaborations and firms' age and size. Moreover, it is posed that the growing involvement of the SMEs in interfirm technological collaboration will lead to the improved performance of the firms.

Keywords: interfirm cooperation; motives; modes; China; high technology; small and medium-sized enterprises; high tech SMEs; technological collaboration; innovation. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ids:ijbisy:v:3:y:2008:i:6:p:624-636

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