TY  - JOUR
T1  - Inter-Firm Alliances: A Mechanism to Develop Innovative Capacity in SMEs
AU - Franco, Mario AU - Valentim, Luis AU - Lisboa, Joao 
JO  - International Business Management
VL  - 7
IS  - 3
SP  - 198
EP  - 207
PY  - 2013
DA  - 2001/08/19
SN  - 1993-5250
DO  - ibm.2013.198.207
UR  - https://makhillpublications.co/view-article.php?doi=ibm.2013.198.207
KW  - Motives
KW  -inter-firm alliances
KW  -innovation
KW  -SMEs
KW  -Portugal
AB  - The main research objectives of this study are: To identify 
  and categorize factors that SMEs take into account when deciding to enter an 
  inter-firm alliance; verify the importance of innovation-related motives and 
  measure the influence of firms’ characteristics on SMEs’ motives. To achieve 
  this purpose, a random sample of 163 SMEs supplied by the Informa D&B Portugal 
  database was surveyed by email and data was collected through an online questionnaire. 
  For data analysis, a one-way ANOVA and Tukey test were used. From the findings 
  obtained, the motives for entering inter-firm alliances were grouped into three 
  different factors: Innovation, operational improvements and market reasons. 
  Several significant differences were also found between manufacturing and service 
  industries as well as between firms focusing on the domestic and export markets. 
  This study seeks to extend the findings of previous inter-firm alliance literature 
  and more particularly the motives for SMEs entering into such agreements and 
  especially in the service sector.
ER  -