Social Capital and Technology Alliance Performance of Korean Exporting SMEs

Focusing on the technology alliances of Korean exporting SMEs, the present study investigated the effects of social capital (social interactions, shared vision, and trust) on strategic alliance performance and the effect of alliance partner country type on the positive relationship between social capital and alliance performance. Multiple regression analyses of 156 exporting SMEs with major technology alliances revealed that social interactions, shared vision, and trust in technology alliance partners strongly and positively affected alliance performance. In particular, the positive effect of shared vision on alliance performance was amplified. However, the effect of trust on performance was diminished when the technology alliance of an SME was domestic rather than foreign. This research contributes to the expansion of the SME literature and provides insights to exporting managers of SMEs by examining the role of three dimensions of social capital on technology alliance performance among Korean SMEs in terms of the effect of partner country.