Title: Strategic alliances in the software industry

Authors: Rod B. McNaughton

Addresses: Department of Management Sciences, Faculty of Engineering, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada

Abstract: Inter-firm alliances are an important tool of business strategy in the software industry. Software developers are entering into marketing and distribution agreements, licensing agreements, joint product and R&D agreements, joint ventures and other partnerships with greater frequency than firms in almost any other sector. The proclivity for partnerships in this sector creates an industrial system in which the ability to access resources through relationships is an important asset. A database of 5,557 alliances formed between 1985 and 1994 involving computer software is used to empirically characterise this industrial system.

Keywords: strategic alliances; inter-firm alliances; partnerships; software industry.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEIM.2001.000467

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, 2001 Vol.1 No.3/4, pp.444-462

Published online: 16 Jul 2003 *

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