Strategic alliances in the software industry
Rod B. McNaughton · International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management · 2001
Inter-firm alliances are an important tool of business strategy in the software industry. Software developers are entering into marketing and distribution agreements, licensing agreements, joint product and R&D agreements, joint ventures and other partnerships with greater frequency than firms in almost any other sector. The proclivity for partnerships in this sector creates an industrial system in which the ability to access resources through relationships is an important asset. A database of 5,557 alliances formed between 1985 and 1994 involving computer software is used to empirically characterise this industrial system.