Title: What drives trust-performance relationship in SME alliances?

Authors: Rohit Prabhudesai; Ch.V.V.S.N.V. Prasad

Addresses: Department of Economics, Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani, KK Birla Goa Campus, Sancoale-Goa, 403726, India ' Department of Economics, Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani, KK Birla Goa Campus, Sancoale-Goa, 403726, India

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to determine how trust influences SME strategic alliance performance. While strategic alliances provide SMEs with the requisite resources needed for survival and gaining competitive advantage, they are particularly vulnerable to the opportunistic behaviour of partners. The presence of trust in such cases mitigates these perceptions and thereby improves alliance performance. However, extant research has suggested that trust-performance link in an alliance is not uniform in all situations and maybe contingent upon other factors. Through the course of this paper, propositions are developed for multiple drivers that influence the trust-SME alliance performance relationship and a conceptual model is provided. By identifying the means by which trust affects the performance of SME alliances, the paper provides important insights for researchers and managers.

Keywords: small and medium enterprise; SME; trust; alliance; alliance failure; SME alliance; SME alliance performance; commitment; cooperation; control.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBG.2018.091507

International Journal of Business and Globalisation, 2018 Vol.20 No.3, pp.316 - 327

Received: 26 Feb 2016
Accepted: 10 Nov 2016
Published online: 04 May 2018 *

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