SMBs in search of international strategic alliances: Perceived importance of personal information sources

Abstract

This study addresses the issue of how small- and medium-sized companies seek information about potential international partners for cooperation. In particular, we focus on two sources of information: direct personal information (DIRPI) and indirect personal information (INPI). We argue that the use of these sources is related to how closely related the planned alliance is to the strategic core of the company, the degree of dissimilarity among potential partners, the degree of expected opportunism from potential partners and prior experience with cooperation. Our hypotheses were tested on a sample of small- and medium-sized companies. The results indicate that the planned alliance's closeness to the strategic core of the company and partner dissimilarity are important predictors for how managers seek information about potential partners.