The Entrepreneurship and Strategic Alliance Literatures
The purpose of this report is to examine the nexus between the entrepreneurship and strategic alliance literatures and to explore research opportunities related to this particular relationship. Cooney (2005) notes that over the past 15 years entrepreneurship has received increased attention as a body of research builds which suggests that fast growth firms are more likely to have been founded by entrepreneurial teams. Simultaneously, Marino, Strandholm, Steensma, and Weaver (2002) note that strategic alliance portfolios are increasingly popular in that they provide both entrepreneurial firms and small-to-medium sized enterprises (MSEs) with a buffer against environmental uncertainty and access to critical resources by extending the range of alliance networks and increasing the number and variety of agreements in their portfolios.
The report will be presented in four subsequent sections. The next section will discuss background information that is relevant to entrepreneurship as one of the more interesting frontiers for research on alliance phenomenon. The following section will then present research objectives. The research methodology will be explicated. The methodology will include a review of key literature and themes. Finally, the report will offer a summary, conclusion, and recommendations.
Entrepreneurship is a subject that has received a great deal of attention in recent years. However, Brush and Chaganti (1996, p. 20) note that research that looks at entrepreneurship in the context of strategic alliances is relatively new:
Theoretical work on the topic of cooperative strategies exists mainly in the fields of international business and strategic management, but investigations of strategic alliances and partnerships are emerging in the field of entrepreneurship. Typical of investigations of new topics, the variety of terms and definitions of coopera...