Title: Should small exporting technology enterprises use niche, strategic alliances, or both?

Authors: Gongming Qian; Marcus Alexander; Lee Li

Addresses: Department of Management, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Room 816, 8/F, Cheng Yu Tung Building, No. 12, Chak Cheung Street, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong ' School of Business, Bethune-Cookman University, 640 Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Blvd., Daytona Beech, FL 32114, USA ' School of Administrative Studies, York University, 4700 Keele St., Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada

Abstract: This study compares and evaluates the niche strategy as well as the alliance strategy for small exporting technology enterprises (SETEs). The literature indicates that either strategy is effective, as both serve the same purpose of relaxing resource constraints. However, the results of this study indicate that SETEs that adopt both strategies simultaneously perform significantly better than those that adopt only one strategy so one strategy does not duplicate the other. Moreover, SETEs cannot maximise returns either if they rely heavily on both strategies simultaneously. The optimal strategy for SETEs lies either on the combination of high level of niches and low level of alliances or on the combination of low level of niches and high level of alliances.

Keywords: niche strategy; strategic alliances; exports; small exporting technology enterprises; SETEs; international competition; small firms; niche markets; entrepreneurship.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMED.2014.059851

International Journal of Management and Enterprise Development, 2014 Vol.13 No.1, pp.21 - 36

Received: 29 Jan 2013
Accepted: 11 Oct 2013

Published online: 17 Jun 2014 *

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