In Good Company: When Small and MediumSized Enterprises Acquire Multiplex Knowledge from Key Commercial Partners

摘要

This study explores the specific conditions under which key strategic alliances of mall and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with commercial partners can become multiplex in knowledge exchange. Using survey data from a sample of 150 Spanish SMEs in the information and communication technology (ICT) industry, we find that trust creates an appropriate context for the concurrent acquisition of technological, market, and managerial knowledge, When the SME and its key commercial partner exhibit significant strategic, technological, and market differences, however, the SW's ability to acquire different types of knowledge diminishes considerably, reducing the positive impact of trust on knowledge multiplexity.