Entrepreneurship and Technological Strategic Alliance between competitors : Transaction Cost Economics and Common Knowledge as Core Competences (an Empirical Analysis)

This paper deals with entrepreneurship and more particularly with the core competencies that small-sized firms have to develop for technological inovation. We are concerned with firms which develop their business through strategic alliances with competitors to acquire means and reduce risk inherent to market failures. By analysing managerial practices this paper proposes frameworks of core competencies which contribute to optimize technological alliances. In that case, papers used to say that partnerships between competitors generate non efficiency for small-sized firms entrepreneurship. On the contrary, we observed alliances between competitors generate benefits associated with reduced risks, transaction cost economics and common knowledge. We carried out an empirical analysis of 60 technological alliances between small-sized firms. This study is based on interviews with top managers. We developed a thematical analysis of those interviews using a chi-2 test and looking for relationships between managerial practices for inovation and effiency criteria. The results show a scope of two different cases which depend on the creation of common structure (joint venture or joint R&D structure,...), or not : * In the case of alliances without common structure, core competences of managers are more concerned with contractual negotiation in order to reduce the transaction cost associated with the market of technologies * In the case of alliances with common structure, core competences of managers are more concerned with information systems and organizational learning by doing. There core competences generate a " common knowledge " which favours relationships between competitors. This paper allowed us to advise top managers according to their entrepreneurial implications. In the case of non determinant technological projects, we proposed flexible and adapted contracts. In the case of determinant technological projects, we propose frameworks of common structures which favour common knowledge as core competences in technological alliances between competitors.