Internationalization of Companies Through Strategic Alliance: A Study of Polish Companies
Internationalization of Companies Through Strategic Alliance: A Study of Polish Companies

Author(s): Rafał Drewniak
Subject(s): Social Sciences, Economy
Published by: Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze
Keywords: Strategic alliance; internationalisation; resource-based approach; innovation
Summary/Abstract: Purpose:The purpose of this article is to present the scope and the essence of internationalization of companies through cooperation within the frame of strategic agreements. The presented paper studies the role and the notion of strategic cooperation forinternationalization of companies. The main aim of empirical research was to determine those resources and characteristics of potential partner company which are important from the perspective of internationalisation of companies declaring to cooperate.The discussion is based on an analysis of domestic and international literature references as well as own research. Design/methodology/approach:The study involved 89 companies, belonging to one of the industrial clusters in Poland. The selection of companies for research was deliberate. 70 complete questionnaires were obtained, on the basis of which the conclusions were made with reference to the studied group. The research method was survey with electronic questionnaire as a research tool. It included questions concerning the characteristics of companies and the alliance, as well as an assessment of selected aspects of the agreement. Reliability analysis was done by estimating internal consistency using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient.The scale used in the questionnaire is described in the methodology chapter. Findings: What the researched companies expected the most from the partner companies was to enrich the alliance with experience in operations on foreign markets, knowledge and know-how, especially in the scope of technological resources, as well as to utilise the competitive position of a partner and their well-known brand. The researched companies most frequently selected the following benefits as the ones they gained from entering a foreign market through a strategic alliance: improvement in their competitive position, improvement in their management processes, achieving the effect of the economics of operation, implementation of innovation. Research/practical implications:The existing papers study thetheories and the practical aspects of companies’ internationalization through strategic alliances. It allowed to get closer to the problems of building innovative and competitive potential of a company in the practical sense through the utilisation of resources of other entities within the scope of a strategic alliance. In particular, it includes the following: obtaining crucial resources (especially technological), distribution of operation costs among a larger number of partners and more elastic (faster)adaptation to the changing circumstances of international environment due to attributes, which are desired from potential allies in the context of entering foreign markets. Originality/value:The undertaken issues concern the analysis of the factors determining internationalization of companies through a strategic alliance in the context of attributes of cooperating companies. Other research tends to concentrate on factors, which support or hinder foreign expansion or characterise its effects. Therefore, it is possible to gain advantage on the domestic market, which in turn creates better conditions for improving effectiveness and implementation of innovations.

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