Asymmetries between partners and trust : the case of strategic alliances between SMEs and multinational firms
This article aims to analyze interorganizational asymmetries effects on trust in strategic alliances between SMEs and multinational firms. Most authors agree that dissimilarities between partners in strategic alliances do not encourage trust development between them. As part of this contribution, the effects of asymmetries on trust are analyzed from a qualitative study of ten asymmetric alliance cases of French SMEs with giant firms in the aerospace industry. We find that despite asymmetries, trust can develop between partners if arrangements are made by them to strengthen their cooperation.