An Analysis of Internal R&D Resources and Technological Alliances in Japanese SMEs from the Knowledge-Based View

From the knowledge-based view of the firm, we examined the relationship between internal R&D resources and technological alliances by data from 234 technology-based smalland medium-sized enterprises in Japan. We found: (1) the higher the internal R&D resources, the more non-equity-type alliances firms tended to pursue; (2) subjective factors such as entrepreneurial top management with overseas orientations seemed to affect technological alliances more significantly than objective factors such as firm size or keiretsu relations; and (3) technological alliances may promote corporate growth, but may endanger corporate stability. Interview data supplements these findings.