Title: Business partners and corporate entrepreneurship in developing countries

Authors: Kamal Sakhdari; Jahangir Yadollahi Farsi

Addresses: University of Tehran, 16th Street, North Kargar Avenue, Tehran 1439813141, Iran ' University of Tehran, 16th Street, North Kargar Avenue, Tehran 1439813141, Iran

Abstract: This study addresses the way small and medium enterprises in developing countries can fill their knowledge gaps to enhance their level of corporate entrepreneurship. Our observation of a sample of 126 (double-respondent questionnaires) small and medium supplier firms providing products and services to the mining industry in Iran indicate that firms with more business partners have more engagement in corporate entrepreneurship. Yet, this connection is conditional to the firm's network management capabilities. In particular, relational governance plays an important role in the effective use of business partners for corporate entrepreneurship. Our findings suggest that the increased number of business partners in tandem with network management capabilities can promote corporate entrepreneurship in developing countries.

Keywords: business partners; corporate entrepreneurship; enterprise development; relational governance; network management capabilities; developing countries; small and medium-sized enterprises; SMEs; mining industry; Iran.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMED.2016.075875

International Journal of Management and Enterprise Development, 2016 Vol.15 No.1, pp.61 - 77

Received: 06 Jul 2015
Accepted: 13 Dec 2015
Published online: 10 Apr 2016 *

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