Abstract

/111. Studies of Mgt. & Org .• Vol. XVll. No.4. pp. 31-57 M. E. Sharpe. Inc .. 1988 YVES L. Doz (FRANCE) Technology Partnerships between Larger and Smaller Some Critical Issues Firms: Partnerships between larger and smaller firms have multiplied over the last few years. To large firms, partnerships usually offer a channel for tapping into the innovative and entrepreneurial potential of smaller companies, and for overcoming some of their own rigidities. In most of the observed partnerships, smaller firms perform research and devel­ opment for, and/or transfer innovations to, the larger firms. These larger firms offer their smaller partners the ability to reach world markets quickly without having to build their own infrastructure or negotiate complex agreements with multiple agents. Larger firms also often offer the experience of volume manufacturing. The complemen­ tarity is obvious. Partnerships are also more frequent because of the growing aware­ ness, in small and large firms alike, of the drawbacks of the alterna­ tives. Acquisitions of smaller firms by larger ones have seldom been a success, as the anticipated synergies most often have not materialized. In the microelectronics industry, for instance, nearly all acquisitions of smaller entrepreneurial firms by larger well-established ones have