Smes and Multinational Companies: Performance of Asymmetric Alliances
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effects of asymmetries between Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Multinational Corporations (MNCs) on their alliance relationships performance. In this context, the asymmetries were defined in terms of size, organizational culture, resources and competencies and alliances experience. The effects of these asymmetries are qualitatively analyzed from the perspective of ten French SMEs operating in the aircraft manufacturing industry. Two main results arise from this study. First, some asymmetries (size, organizational culture and alliances experience) can cause relationship problems between partners. However, despite the asymmetries between partners, these alliances generate positive results (financial performance and organizational learning) thanks to the complementarity of resources provided by the SMEs and the MNCs.