The Mediating Effect of Intellectual Capital in The Relationship Between Strategic Alliances and Organizational Performance in Portuguese Technology‐Based SMEs

Date01 September 2017
Published date01 September 2017
AuthorMário Franco,António Ferreira
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1111/emre.12107
The Mediating Effect of Intellectual Capital in
The Relationship Between Strategic Alliances
and Organizational Performance in
Portuguese Technology-Based SMEs
ANTÓNIO FERREIRA and MÁRIO FRANCO
University of Beira Interior, CEFAGE-UBI Research Center, Covilhã, Portugal
This study aims to analyse the relationship between strategic alliances and organizational performance and
determine whether intellectual capital plays a mediating role in that relationship. To do so, a quantitative study
was chosen, with data being gathered through questionnaires directed to the management organs of Portuguese
industrial technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises, from which 257 valid responses were received.
The results obtained based on a structural model show that strategic alliances and intellectual capital stimulate
the organizational performanceof the SMEs studied. This evidence is veryrelevant, as in an increasingly globalized
and competitive world, these two tools can become essential for this firm sector to be able to attain sustainable
competitive advantages. Furthermore, the empirical evidence reveals that intellectual capital has a mediating effect
on the relationship between strategic alliances and organizational performance, this finding being the main
contribution of the study. Other implications for theory and practice will be presented.
Keywords: strategic alliances; intellectual capital; organizational performance; industrial technology-based SMEs
Introduction
In the literature, when compared with large firms, small
and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are generally
characterized by their shortage of resources (Pett and
Wolff, 2007; Kipley and Lewis, 2009; Mukherjee et al.,
2013). Theselimited resources, whether human,financial,
of knowledge, time or others, can cause disadvantages for
these firms in terms of competitiveness. Therefore, with
the intention of overcoming their lack of resources and
to be able to compete on equal terms with large firms,
SMEs sometimes need to form cooperative relationships
with other companies (Contractor and Lorange, 1988;
Merchant and Schendel, 2000; Kipley and Lewis, 2009).
Despite the various forms of cooperative relationships
(Lok and Willmott,2014), this study concentrateson only
one of them, strategic alliances. According to Teece
(1992), strategic alliances are agreements in which two
or more partners share the commitment to attain a
common strategic objective, joining all their capacities
and resources and coordinating theiractivities.
The importance of strategic alliances among SMEs has
increased significantly, and shows a tendency to continue
to develop due essentially to factors such as growing
international competition, accelerated technological
progress and increasingly sophisticated markets,
customers and suppliers(Li et al., 2013). For Murray
(1995) and Franco (2001), increasing market
globalization, increased competition and the speed and
complexity of technological change lead SMEs to open
their borders, moving from a traditionally static form
which was slow to change to a more dynamic and
adaptable one. Therefore, Durst and Edvardsson (2012)
state that knowledge has become the main factor of
growth and sustainability in this firm sector, making them
more adaptable.
For Joia and Malheiros (2009), one of the principal
sources of knowledge can be strategic alliances.
Intellectual capital, as the set of intangible assets, are
considered the only resources able to maintain firms
competitiveness, as they are difficult to imitate, often
Correspondence: António Ferreira, University of Beira Interior,
Management and Economics Department, Estrada do Sineiro, 6200-209
Covilhã,Portugal, Tel: +351275 319 600, Fax: +351 275319 601. E-mail
aferreir@ubi.pt
European Management Review, Vol. 14, 303318, (2017)
DOI: 10.1111/emre.12107
©2017 European Academy of Management
being the fruit of the complementarity of two or more
firms (Kristandl and Bontis, 2007). In this context, the
resource-based perspective (Penrose, 1959; Wernerfelt,
1984; Das and Teng, 2003) and knowledge-based theory
(Grant, 1996; Nonaka, 1994; Grantand Baden-Fuller,
2004) consider strategic alliances and intellectual capital
as two of the resources most able to produce sustained
competitive advantage and with the greatest capacity to
enhance organizational performance (Mohr and Puck,
2013). According to Ortiz (2003), intellectual capital is
the set of intangibles that allow the use of technical and
economic assets to attain a firms goals and objectives.
Despite the high number of studies analysing the
phenomenon of strategic alliances, a great many of them
are found to present some gaps (Wu et al., 2009). For
Christoffersen (2013), few studies have examined, for
example, the realimpact of the alliance process onSMEs
intellectual capital and performance. Especially in the
context of SMEs, alliances may be particularly helpful.
SMEs face particular challenges and have some
peculiarities in forming and maintaining alliances with
other firms. A better understanding of this phenomenon
would permit academics and practitioners to develop
measures to facilitate access and increase efficiency with
regard to thistype of strategic alliance and the relationship
with intellectual capital and performance.
Despite the relevance of investigating strategic
alliances in the SME context, empirical study of the
mediating effect of intellectual capital that partners can
achieve by participating in strategic alliances on
organizational performance is still scarce. According to
Huang (2011), there are still very few studies relating
intellectual capital to strategic alliances and to
organizational performance, which makes this topic an
interesting field to explore.
With a view to filling these gaps, the main aim of this
study is to analyse the relationship between strategic
alliances and organizational performance in technology-
based SMEs and find out whether intellectual capital has
a mediating rolein that relationship. In doingso, we apply
the resource-based perspective and knowledge-based
theory, as firm-internal resources determine competitive
advantages and can be controlled by the firm and its
members themselves. The study intends to show that
forming strategic alliances can be important in
overcoming the lack of resources so characteristic of
SMEs, namely concerning the developmentof intellectual
capital. Knowing and following certain internal and
external resources can help managers and owners of
SMEs to ensure the competitiveness and growth of their
firms.
In addition, a contribution of this study is to show that
strategic alliances have an influence on intellectual capital
and organizational performance, allowing confirmation
that the relationships SMEs form with other firms are
increasingly important for their sustainability and
development. The study also shows that intellectual
capital can have a mediating role in the relationship
between strategic alliances and organizational
performance. Therefore, our study contributes to
promotingthe SME sector and underpinningthe relevance
of resource-based and knowledge-based theories.
The main results obtained reveal thatstrategic alliances
and intellectual capital stimulate the organizational
performance of the SMEs studied. This evidence is very
relevant, as in an increasingly globalized and competitive
world, these two tools can become essential for this firm
sector to be able to attain sustainable competitive
advantages.
After the introduction, this article will include
theoretical development of the relationship between
strategic alliances, intellectual capital and organizational
performance, and development of the research
hypotheses. This is followed by a description of the
methodology used with a view to fulfilling the objective
proposed. The results obtained in this study are then
presented anddiscussed, and finally the main conclusions,
contributions, limitations and future lines of research are
presented.
Theoretical development and research
hypotheses
Strategic alliances and organizational performance
In this study, the conceptual basis for explaining strategic
alliance formation is resource-based theory, predicting
that resources are both the key to a firms success and
the main limitation of its growth (Penrose, 1959). This
consists of analysing the position of resources in an
organization and looking at strategic options suggested
by that analysis (Wernerfelt, 1984). Also Grant (1991)
underpins the relevance of adopting strategies which
enable the organization to make effective use of the
resources available.
In this context, a strategic alliance is defined hereas an
agreement between two or more firms following up a
number of private and common interests through sharing
resources in contexts where the results are uncertain
(Ariño et al., 2001). Ireland et al. (2002) also define
strategic alliances as a collaboration agreement between
two or more firms, formed so as to help in fulfilling
mutually compatible objectives or to solve common
problems, through continuous interaction.
Strategic alliances are seen by many authors (Arend,
2009; Khalid and Larimo, 2012; Dana et al., 2013; Dana
and Mallet, 2014; Bouncken et al., 2015) as a determinant
factor of improved firm performance (Stuart, 2000), but
the establishment of strategic alliances is a complex and
304 A. Ferreira and M. Franco
©2017 European Academy of Management

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