Tendency to Network of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises: Combining Organizational Economics and Resource-based Perspectives

• Published in: Managerial and decision economics Vol. 34; no. 3-5; pp. 283 - 300
• Main Authors: Meiseberg, Brinja, Ehrmann, Thomas
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.04.2013; John Wiley and Sons; Wiley Periodicals Inc
• Subjects: Alliances; Bonding; Business management; Business networks; Business partnership; Business structures; Collaboration; Construction; Construction costs; Cooperation; Corporate strategies; Decision analysis; Decision making; Economic coordination mechanisms; Economic models; Economic resources; Economic theory; Economics; Financial management; Franchise agreements; Germany; GOVERNANCE OF COOPERATIVES AND ALLIANCES: PART II; Human resources; Industrial management; Managers; Networks; Organizational behaviour; Service introduction; Small & medium sized enterprises-SME; Small and medium sized enterprises; Strain; Strategy; Studies; Western Europe; Germany
• ISSN: 0143-6570; 1099-1468
• DOI: 10.1002/mde.2590

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face critical challenges in implementing collaborative strategies, including the difficulty of finding partners, the strain on managerial resources, and the risk of exploitation by larger partner firms. However, little is known about tendencies to network in SMEs. This paper builds on organizational economics and the resource-based perspectives. Survey data from 348 German SMEs reveal that predictions from both theories play a role for the tendencies of SMEs to network, yet organizational capabilities in terms of coordination and communication and bonding in alliances are most relevant for cooperation decisions. We provide managerial implications for cooperation involving SMEs.